Chhattisgarh's paddy acreage falls nearly 8% in 2023 kharif season

The acreage of paddy crop has come down by 7.69 per cent for the 2023 kharif season as the Chhattisgarh government is focusing on promoting cultivation of millets, pulses, and oilseeds.

The sowing of kharif crops in the state started last week but erratic rainfall played truant. Chhattisgarh is among the top 10 rice-producing states in the country.

“The area under paddy has been reduced from 3.9 million hectares to 3.6 million hectares for the current season,” a state government spokesperson said.
 

The government has, however, increased the acreage of kharif crops by about 100,000 hectares for the current sowing season, a 2.16 per cent rise against the previous year. The area this season has been increased to 4.82 million hectares from 4.71 million hectares last year.

Chhattisgarh, which is foc­u­sing to emerge as the millet hub in the country, has dec­ided to promote coarse grains. The spokesperson said the state had set a target to incre­ase the area under maize to 240,000 hectares from 192,000 hectares. Similarly, the acreage of millets (kodo-kutki and ragi) will be increased to 160,000 hectares from 96,000 hectares, the spokesperson said.

By increasing the area of arhar and urad by 50,000 hectares each, their revised area would be 140,000 hectares and 170,000 hectares, respectively. The target has been fixed for sowing pulses in 209,000 hectares by increasing the area of pulse crops by 83,000 hectares. Apart from cereals, pulses, and oilseed crops, the area under cultivation of other crops in the state would be increased from 157,000 hectares to 250,000 hectares.

According to state agriculture department officials, reducing the acreage of rice would not affect the production. “By using modern techniques, good seeds, and fertilizers, the state will ensure that the productivity and output increases,” officials said. The paddy productivity in Chhatt­isgarh has been calculated at 3,212 kg per hectare.

In the last kharif marketing season, the state set a record by procuring over 10.7 million tonnes (mt) of paddy from farmers at the minimum support price, which was higher than the previous record of 9.8 mt in 2021-22. Chhattisgarh is the largest contributor of rice to the central pool after Punjab and Haryana.