According to agriculture ministry data released on Friday, the area under paddy crop has decreased by 5.62 percent to 383.99 lakh hectares in the current kharif season due to poor rains in some states. According to the data, 406.89 lakh hectares of paddy were planted the previous year.
Paddy is the main kharif crop, with sowing beginning with the arrival of the southwest monsoon in June and harvesting beginning in October.
So far this kharif season, there has been a significant delay in paddy sowing in the states of Jharkhand (9.80 lakh ha), Madhya Pradesh (6.32 lakh ha), West Bengal (4.45 lakh ha), Chhattisgarh (3.91 lakh ha), Uttar Pradesh (2.61 lakh ha), and Bihar (2.18 lakh ha).
During the same period, the lag in paddy sowing was not significant in the states of Odisha (0.84 lakh ha), Andhra Pradesh (0.31 lakh ha), Assam (0.29 lakh ha), Meghalaya (0.21 lakh ha), Punjab (0.12 lakh ha), Jammu and Kashmir (0.05 lakh ha), Mizoram (0.03 lakh ha), Sikkim (0.02 lakh ha), and Tripura (0.01 lakh ha).
Aside from paddy, there has been a slight decrease in pulse coverage, with 129.55 lakh hectares covered so far this kharif season compared to 135.46 lakh hectares in the previous year. Tur/arhar area fell marginally to 44.86 lakh ha from 47.56 lakh ha, while urad acreage fell slightly to 36.62 lakh ha from 38.18 lakh ha in the comparable period.
Oilseed coverage was also lagging, with an area coverage of 188.51 lakh ha as of September 2 of this kharif season, compared to 189.66 lakh ha the previous year. However, in the case of coarse-cum-nutri cereals, sowing was slightly higher at 178.96 lakh ha, compared to 171.62 lakh ha during the same period.
Cotton acreage remained unchanged at 125.69 lakh ha, while sugarcane area increased slightly to 55.65 lakh ha from the previous year. According to the data, the jute/mesta area has remained flat at 6.95 lakh ha so far in the current kharif season.
According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the country received 6% more southwest monsoon rains from June to August. However, the east and north eastern parts of the country experienced a 19% decrease in rainfall during the same time period. Monthly rainfall in September is expected to be above average across the country, according to the forecast.
