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The area under kharif crops has expanded, with acreages of oilseeds and cotton exceeding three-fourth of the normal area on good rains across the country.
The planting of soyabean is almost complete, with the acreage exceeding 103 lakh hectare area (ha) as on July 11, almost twice the acreage in the same period last year.
Similarly, groundnut acreage has crossed the half way mark of the normal area at 26 lakh ha. The normal area for groundnut is pegged at 49 lakh ha for the season.
The good progress in sowing of soyabean and groundnut has boosted total oilseed acreage to 136 lakh ha, more than twice the area this time last year. States such as Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat have also reported a significant increase in oilseeds acreage.
In case of cotton, planting is almost over in about 80 per cent of the normal area of 117.53 lakh ha.
A higher acreage in Gujarat and Maharashtra has boosted overall acreage to 92.44 lakh ha over last year’s 65.22 lakh ha.
Rice acreage has seen a 13 per cent increase at 110.07 lakh ha over last year on higher plantings in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Widespread rains across the country continued to progress well, giving a fillip to kharif plantings. The total rainfall since the onset of monsoon season is 19 per cent higher over the same period last year, with about 60 per cent of the country receiving excess rains.
Prompted by the good progress in sowing so far, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar recently said that kharif foodgrain output would break the previous records.
Kharif foodgrain output had touched a record high of 131.27 million tonnes in 2011-12.
So far, the acreage under pulses has also doubled to 26 lakh ha over last year’s 13.04 lakh ha.
The acreage under tur or arhar has risen 55 per cent to 10.4 lakh ha over last year with Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra reporting higher acreages.
The acreage under moong and urad, too, has seen an increase at 5.45 lakh ha and 8.14 lakh ha, respectively.
Coarse cereals such as bajra, maize, and ragi have also seen a rise in acreage at 96.58 lakh ha.
Maize area stood at 56 lakh ha with farmers planting more in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
> vishwanath.kulkarni@thehindu.co.in
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