Rice sowing lags behind at 356.83 lakh hectare so far this season

Area sown to rice, the main kharif crop, is still lagging behind at 356.83 lakh hectare (ha) so far in the current season, as per the agriculture ministry data released today.

Rice acreage stood at 359.52 lakh hectare in the year-ago period. Sowing of kharif crops begin with the onset of southwest monsoon from July and harvesting from October.

As per the ministry's data, lag in the area of most kharif crops has narrowed down and sowing of all kharif crops was covered in 995.62 lakh hectare as on today when compared with 1,008.57 lakh hectare in the year-ago period.

Besides rice, area sown to pulses mainly urad, arhar and moong was marginally down at 130.83 lakh hectare so far this season as against 133.87 lakh hectare in the same period last season.

Coarse cereals acreage remained lower at 166.52 lakh hectare so far this season as against 174.34 lakh hectare a year ago.

Cotton area too was lower at 116.85 as against 119.67 lakh hectare in the said period.

However, area under oilseeds and sugarcane remained higher than the year-ago period.

Area sown to oilseeds remained slightly higher at 167 lakh hectare as against 164.24 lakh hectare, while that of sugarcane area was at 50.60 lakh hectare as against 49.86 lakh hectare in the said period.