NEW DELHI: The total area sown under kharif crops in the current season across the country is estimated at 1,086.31 lakh hectares as on September 4 this year, compared with the corresponding figure of 1,104 lakh hectares in the same period last year, data released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on September 8 showed.
The official figures show that the area under rice is 421.82 lakh hectares this year, compared with 438.19 lakh hectares during the same period last year. The decline in the area sown is attributed to the deficient monsoon this year following the adverse impact of the El Nino weather pattern. Overall, the decline in rice area coverage is mainly attributable to substantial reductions in Karnataka, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra.
The area under pulses such as urad and moong has gone up to 117.13 lakh hectares, which represents a 1.83 lakh hectares increase over the corresponding figure of 115.30 lakh hectares during the same period last year, as the crop requires less water. The increase in pulses area coverage is mainly attributable to substantial gains in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, which more than offset the declines reported in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Odisha.
The area covered under coarse cereals or millets such as jowar, bajra, and ragi has been estimated at 181.39 lakh hectares during the current season, which has fallen from 182.48 lakh hectares in the same period of the previous year.
