Rice area remains lower, pulses and oilseeds up

NEW DELHI: The total coverage of rice during the ongoing Kharif season continues to be lower while area under cultivation of pulses and oilseeds is higher compared to the year-ago period.

Rice acreage declined marginally to 319.04 lakh hectare as on today as compared to 322.76 lakh hectare during the corresponding period last year, the Agriculture Ministry said.

It said transplanting of rice is in progress in Kerala and Tamil Nadu while sowing is at ending stage in Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan. Transplanting is at peak in other states.

The total coverage of Kharif oilseeds like soyabean and groundnut has been 167.93 lakh hectare till yesterday against 155.41 lakh hectare in the year-ago period. Soyabean has been sown in nine per cent more area this year and groundnut in 13 per cent. Pulses acreage stood at 112.85 lakh hectare compared to 105.05 lakh hectare during the review period.

More cotton area in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat has led to its acreage reaching at 87.66 lakh hectare as compared to 82.21 lakh hectare last year. Out of this, 53.32 lakh hectare is under Bt cotton, the ministry said.

Total coarse cereals such as maize, bajra and others have covered an area of 206.11 lakh hectare as compared to 194.22 lakh hectare at this time last year.

Sugarcane coverage is reported to be 51.04 lakh hectare compared to 48.32 lakh hectare last year while coverage under jute crop stood at 7.89 lakh hectare against 8.18 lakh hectare in the period under review.