Kharif sowing up 18% to nearly 750 lakh hectares so far

NEW DELHI: Area under kharif crops, including paddy, has increased by 17.70 per cent to 747.78 lakh hectares so far in the ongoing kharif season on the back of good monsoon rains.

The acreage of paddy, a major kharif (summer-sown) crop, rose by 8.58 per cent to 196.38 lakh hectares so far from 184.24 lakh hectares in the year-ago period, according to the Agriculture Ministry data.

"Sowing of kharif crops has picked up further in this week. The total sown area as on July 26, as per reports received from states, stands at 747.78 lakh hectare as compared to 635.05 hectare at this time last year," an official statement said.

Sowing of kharif (summer) crops begins with the onset of southwest monsoon from June. So far, the country has received an excess of 21 per cent rainfall since the onset of monsoon this year.

Paddy area is higher in Punjab and Haryana, which received good rains.

The advancement in monsoon rains has pushed area under pulses by 90 per cent to 73.62 lake hectares as of now. In the same period last year, pulses were sown in 39.52 lakh hectares.

Oilseeds farmers also took up sowing in a big way taking advantage of rains as the acreage increased to 167.15 lakh hectares so far as compared to 138.30 lakh hectares in the same period last year.

Similarly, area sown for coarse cereals has increased to 148.82 lakh hectares from 117.48 lakh hectares in the review period.

Among cash crops, cotton sowing has picked up and its acreage has increased to 105.06 lakh hectares so far this season as compared to 97.24 lakh hectares in the year-ago period.

However, sugarcane planting declined to 48.48 lakh hectares, mainly in Maharashtra and Karnataka, as against 50.04 lakh hectares in the same period last year.

Area under jute and mesta marginally increased to 8.27 lakh hectares from 8.22 lakh hectares in the corresponding period last year.