Kharif sowing area up by 14% due to good rains

New Delhi: With the widespread monsoon rains across the country, the area under kharif crop sowing has shot up by 14.1 per cent to 378.72 lakh hectares compared to 331.9 hectares during the same period last year.

The area under pulses sown this year has jumped by 50 per cent to 36.81 lakh hectares from 23.78 lakh hectares last year, according to data released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on Monday.

The sowing of arhar (tur) surged to 20.82 lakh hectares against 4.09 lakh hectares last year in the same period. Higher pulse production would help to contain the retail inflation as the prices of arhar and moong have increased significantly for the past several months.

The Centre has been encouraging farmers to cultivate more area under pulses, especially tur, due to crop failure in the past two consecutive years and achieve self-sufficiency in pulses and oilseeds by 2027.

The area under paddy cultivation has increased to 59.99 lakh hectares, against 50.26 lakh hectares last year.

The area under sugarcane has increased to 56.88 lakh hectares this year from 55.45 lakh hectares last year, while the area under soybean has more than doubled to 60.63 lakh tonnes from 28.86 lakh hectares.

The sowing of oilseeds has also jumped to 80.31 lakh hectares from 51.97 lakh hectares last year, the figures show.  

The sowing of cotton also increased significantly, with 80.63 lakh hectares coverage, while it was 62 lakh hectares last year.