Area under paddy up marginally dip in pulses, oilseeds, cotton

The area under paddy cultivation has increased by nearly one per cent to 115.36 lakh hectares this year so far, but the acreage of pulses and cotton has gone down. Paddy, the main kharif crop, was grown in 114.85 lakh hectares area till July 15 last year.

The grain is sown during June-July and harvested by September-October. 

Higher acreage of paddy has been reported from Madhya Pradesh (0.23 lakh hectares), Punjab (2.2 lakh hectares), Bihar (2.96 lakh hectares), West Bengal (0.5 lakh hectares) and Haryana (1.2 lakh hectares), an official statement said today.

But, area under the crop has shrunk in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka among others. The country is witnessing nearly 5% increase in the area under sugarcane at 51.36 lakh hectares till July 15, as against 49.04 lakh hectares in the year-ago period.   

But the scenario is not good in the case of pulses, oilseeds and cotton. Area under pulses has declined by 19% to 36.15 lakh hectares as against 43.02 lakh hectares during the corresponding period last year.

Sowing in lesser area has been reported for pulses like arhar (7.18 lakh hectares), urad (0.81 lakh hectares) and moong (3.52 lakh hectares). While Rajasthan has seen increase in sowing of pulses, area under cultivation for this crop has dwindled in Maharashtra and Karnataka.   

Likewise, area under oilseeds has gone down by about 4% to 98.79 lakh hectares against 102.43 lakh hectares during the same period last year. Among oilseeds, while area under soybean is witnessing a rise, there is a decline in area for groundnut and sunflower. 

Cotton, an important commercial crop, is also witnessing a massive decline in acreage of 43% against year-ago period. It has been planted in an area of 58.89 lakh hectares till today as compared to 84.43 lakh hectares area during corresponding period last year. 

While Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab show a marginal rise in area under cotton, there is a decline in major producing states of Maharashtra (by 16.68 lakh hectares), Gujarat (8.60 lakh hectares) and Andhra Pradesh (2.89 lakh hectares).  

Area under coarse cereals, jute and mesta has also dipped as of now.