75% of kharif sowing done so far; paddy area up by 2.47%

Paddy, pulses and other crops are being sown on 75 per cent of the average sowing area so far in the ongoing kharif season with coverage of paddy, pulses, cotton and sugarcane higher than year-ago, the Agriculture Ministry said today.
Sowing in the Kharif (summer) season begins with the onset of southwest monsoon. As per the Met Department, rains were five per cent above the long-term average till July 26 across the country. But Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh and south interior parts of Karnataka have received less rains so far.
As per the latest data released by the ministry, kharif crops (paddy, pulses, coarse cereals, oilseeds, sugarcane, cotton and jute) have been sown on 791.34 lakh hectare so far, as against 765.79 lakh hectare a year ago.

Last year, kharif crops were sown on a total area of 1,062 lakh hectare. The five years' average sowing area is 1,058 lakh hectare.
Among kharif crops, sowing area under paddy has gone up by 2.47 per cent to 216.23 lakh hectare so far this season, as against 211.30 lakh hectare a year ago.
The current heavy rains in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Assam will boost sowing operation in the coming days and the coverage of paddy and other crops will further improve, a senior ministry official said.

Pulses acreage has also gone up to 114.88 lakh hectare from 107.44 lakh hectare, while that of coarse cereals area increased to 150.19 lakh hectare from 145.40 lakh hectare in the said period.

However, oilseeds have been planted on less area in about 142.31 lakh hectare so far this season compared with 156.65 lakh hectare in the year ago period.
The official said sesamum seeds and castorseeds are likely to be planted by farmers as sowing window is still there and acreage of oilseeds is expected to improve.
In cash crops, sugarcane area has increased to 49.15 lakh hectare from 45.22 lakh hectare in the said period on account of good price and timely payment of cane price by mills.
Similarly, cotton acreage has increased to 111.55 lakh hectare so far as against 92.33 lakh hectare in the year-ago on account of better prices.

However, sowing area under jute/mesta remained lower at 7.03 lakh hectare as against 7.55 lakh hectare in the said period.
The sowing of kharif crops will continue till September.