Paddy acreage surpasses normal levels, reaching 40.87 million hectares

The area under paddy touched 40.87 million hectares during the week ended August 30, which was higher than the normal acreage of 40.15 million hectares for the first time this season.

Normal acreage is the average area sown in the previous five years. A higher-than-normal acreage in paddy should augur well for the final output and encourage the government to lift some of the export curbs that it had imposed to cool down prices and increase domestic supply. Already, ethanol makers have been allowed to get surplus rice from the Food Corporation of India through tenders.  

Trade and industry sources are hoping that other curbs might also ease soon. Overall, till August 30 kharif crops have been sown in around 108.73 million hectares which was almost 2 per cent more than the same period last year. However, a big variable in the final output remains the weather as surplus monsoon showers in September could hurt the standing crop as fields might get inundated. IMD has predicted 'above-normal' rains in several parts of India in September, the last month of the four-month monsoon season.