Rajasthan, the country’s largest mustard-producing state, may see a drop in production during the 2023-2024 crop season, traders said. The state contributes about 45-49 per cent to India’s mustard production.Anil Chatar, joint secretary of the Mustard Oil Producers Association of India, said mustard sowing had increased in Uttar Pradesh (UP) but it declined in Rajasthan. Compared to last year, mustard sowing dropped 200,000 hectares to around 3.7 million hectares in 2023-24, he said, attributing this to low prices that farmers receive.
Chatar said farmers in UP largely shifted from sowing potato to mustard. “Mustard production this year is estimated at 12.5-13 million tonnes (mt) in the country. In Rajasthan, the government estimates that over 6.2 mt of mustard production this year. However, experts peg the output at around 1-1.2 mt lower than the estimates,” he added.Vishal Garg, a mustard trader from Kota, said the mustard production had been increasing over the past three years in the country. He said mustard acreage was increasing in neighbouring states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana. New mustard has started to arrive in small quantities in some markets and is expected to gather momentum from February 20.
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