Agriculture Ministry released latest sowing figures
Sowing of Kharif crops is almost over, sowing of paddy is lagging behind. According to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture, the area under paddy has fallen by 5.51 percent to 401.56 lakh hectare as compared to last year.
Apart from paddy, there is a slight difference in the sowing of pulses, oilseeds and jute/mesta. Thus the total sown area under Kharif crops has come down by 1.24 per cent to 1,097.57 lakh hectares. This figure was 1,111.36 lakh hectares in the same period a year ago. Sowing of Kharif crops had started from June with the onset of southwest monsoon. At the same time, harvesting of some Kharif crops has started and this trend will continue throughout October.
Releasing the latest sowing data, the Agriculture Ministry said paddy acreage declined by 5.51 percent to 401.56 lakh hectares from 4.25 million hectares in the kharif season of 2022-23 (July-June) crop year. The paddy area has decreased in Jharkhand (9.32 lakh hectare), Madhya Pradesh (6.32 lakh hectare), West Bengal (3.65 lakh hectare), Uttar Pradesh (2.48 lakh hectare) and Bihar (1.97 lakh hectare), the statement said.
Along with this, the area under paddy has also decreased in Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Meghalaya, Odisha, Nagaland, Punjab, Goa, Mizoram, Sikkim and Kerala. Paddy crop has been affected due to less rain.
The agriculture ministry, in its first advance estimate, has projected a six per cent decline in the production of kharif paddy and may remain at 10.50 million tonnes. The ministry said that there has also been a slight decrease in the sowing of pulses. The total area under so far in the current Kharif season is 132.83 lakh hectare as against 138.29 lakh hectare in the corresponding period a year ago. The area under tur, urad, moong, kulthi and other pulses decreased during this period.
In this sequence, till now the area under oilseeds is 191.75 lakh hectare, which was 193.28 lakh hectare in the same period a year ago. The area under oilseeds has declined mainly due to reduction in sowing of groundnut and soybean. So far, sowing of coarse cereals has been higher in 181.43 lakh hectares in the Kharif season as against 174.05 lakh hectares in the same period a year ago.
In this way the area under coarse cereals has increased. Among cash crops, the area under cotton and sugarcane has increased marginally. PLC/GT
