Area under pulse cultivation up by 54 per cent in Maharashtra

PUNE: Farmers in Maharashtra have increased the area under urad by 75 per cent and pulses by 64 per cent as on August 2, compared with the same period last year. Due to good rainfall, the kharif acreage has increased by 21 per cent over the previous year.

Of the 34 rural districts in the state, 25 have received more than 100 per cent rainfall. The area under foodgrains, including rice, jowar, bajra and ragi, has increased by 34 per cent.

The area under pulses has increased by 54 per cent, with urad registered the highest increase followed by tur and moong at 64 per cent and 46 per cent, respectively. Bumper sowing is expected to bring the more than two-year old boom in prices of pulses. Global and domestic prices of pulses have already corrected by about 15 per cent in the last fortnight.

The area under oilseeds has also increased by 15 per cent, while farmers had little interest in cotton, where the gain in acreage has been the lowest at 3 per cent. The area under cotton as on August 2 has increased from 36.36 lakh hectare to 37.33 lakh hectare during the comparable period last year.

Of the average kharif area of 139.64 lakh hectare in the state, sowing has been completed on 135.02 lakh hectare; which is 97 per cent of the average kharif area.