Kharif sowing picks up momentum, but acreage still below last year

For rice, which is the main foodgrain grown during the kharif season, the area covered till July 5 is around 15 per cent less than last year

Sowing of kharif crops continued to be slack compared to the same period last year primarily due to a lull in the monsoon during June. 

However, there was some improvement from last week as the rains have revived over central, north and western India. According to data from the department of agriculture, till Friday, kharif crops have been sown in around 33.37 million hectares, which was around 14.17 per cent less than the area covered during the same period last year.

Till last week, the difference was almost 22 per cent. This was among the steepest drops in acreage in June during