Indian farmers reduce area under rapeseed due to rising temperatures

The area planted to rapeseed and mustard in India is expected to shrink despite high prices as above-average temperatures during the planting season encourage farmers to switch to crops that are less susceptible to heat and that offer equally good returns, Reuters reported, citing industry officials. Declining production of rapeseed, the main oilseed crop grown in India, may force the country, the world’s largest importer of vegetable oils, to increase purchases of vegetable edible oils such as palm, soybean and sunflower oils to meet rising demand. According to Anil Chatar, a leading trader from Rajasthan, the country’s largest rapeseed producer, temperatures remained above normal in October and November, which was not favorable for the crop. “In many places, the sowing of early crops failed to sprout,” he said. According to the meteorological department, temperatures in key rapeseed producing areas have been 2-7 degrees Celsius above normal in the last few weeks. Vedpal Tyagi, a ...