Paddy area up 2.71% so far; pulse, oilseed acreage down slightly

Area sown to paddy rose 2.71 per cent to 409.41 lakh hectare so far in the current kharif season, while sowing is underway in a few places, according to agriculture ministry data released on Friday.

Paddy-sowing area was 398.58 lakh hectare in the year-ago period.

In the kharif season of the 2022-23 crop year (July-June), sowing begins with the onset of southwest monsoon from June and harvesting from October.

According to the data, area coverage of paddy, coarse cereals, and sugarcane remained higher as so far this kharif season from the year-ago period.Acreage of pulses, oilseeds, jute and mesta and cotton lagged behind, it showed.

Coarse cereals acreage rose marginally to 183.11 lakh hectare as on September 15 as against 181.48 lakh hectare in the year-ago period.

However, area sown to pulses remained lower at 121 lakh hectare so far this season, as against 127.57 lakh hectares in the year-ago period.Area under oilseeds, too, remained marginally lower at 192.20 lakh hectare as against 194.33 lakh hectare in the said period, the ministry data showed.

Among cash crops, area sown to sugarcane remained higher at 59.91 lakh hectare so far this kharif season as against 55.65 lakh hectare in the year-ago period.

Cotton area is lagging behind at 123.22 lakh hectare as against 127.29 lakh hectare, while those of jute and mesta acreage were also lower at 6.58 lakh hectare as against 6.98 lakh hectare in the said period.

Total area under all kharif crops increased slightly to 1,095.43 lakh hectare as on September 15 as against 1,091.87 lakh hectare in the year-ago period.