Farmers had sown rabi crops like wheat and pulses in 48.21 million hectare till last week, about three per cent higher than the year-ago period, according to the Agriculture Ministry.
They had sown rabi (winter) crops in over 46.97 million hectare during the same period of last year. Sowing of rabi crops begins in October, while the harvesting is done in April.
Barring rice, the coverage of other rabi crops has been better than the year-ago period, the latest data released by the Agriculture Ministry showed.
Area under wheat, the main rabi crop, had increased to 22.74 million hectare till last week of the rabi season, as compared to 22.08 million hectare in the year-ago period.
Experts said the sowing of wheat got delayed due to late harvest of paddy crop. However, better weather conditions have boosted crop prospect.
The worrying factor for farmers, however, is that the government has not yet announced the minimum support price of wheat, they added.
Besides wheat, area under pulses has increased slightly to 12.12 million hectare from 12.06 million hectare, while area planted to oilseeds has improved to 7.9 million hectare from 7.4 million hectare in the review period.
Area under coarse cereals has increased marginally to 5.30 million hectare till last week of the ongoing rabi season, against 5.23 million hectare in the year-ago.
However, area under rice has been only 1,42,000 hectare, as against 1,95,000 hectare in the review period.
The government is focusing on recovering the losses made in kharif season of the current 2012-13 crop year (July-June) on account of poor rains. It aims to harvest 120.50 million tonnes of foodgrains during rabi season.