Kharif acreage has taken a big leap on brisk sowing of key crops such as oilseeds and pulses as the South-West monsoon, which covered the country a fortnight ahead of schedule, continues to make good progress.

Rice, oilseeds, coarse cereals, pulses and cotton have registered huge growth in acreages in the kharif season so far compared with the corresponding period last year. Total area increased by 85 per cent to 250.99 lakh hectares so far.

The country has received 37 per cent more rains in the current year with 26 sub-divisions receiving excess rains, six receiving normal rains and deficient rains in four sub-divisions.

The surge in oilseeds planting is primarily led by soyabean and groundnut. Madhya Pradesh has registered an over ten-fold increase in soyabean acreage so far at 29.74 lakh hectares (lh) area compared with last year’s 2.75 lh.

In Maharasthra, soyabean acreage was up at 8.26 lh against last year’s 2.58 lh. The high market prices ahead of the planting season and relatively higher returns, compared with competitive crops such as cotton, could have prompted farmers to plant more soyabean. The processing industry expects the total acreage to go up by 5-7 per cent.

Groundnut acreage in Gujarat has seen a major increase at 10.55 lh against last year’s 1.67 lh, while in Andhra Pradesh it has doubled to 1.13 lh over last year’s 65,000 hectares.

Rice acreage

The rice area has seen an increase of close to a million hectares driven by higher plantings in Punjab, Haryana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Total acreage stood at 39.12 lh as on June 27 over last year’s 29.66 lh. The early arrival of monsoon in Punjab and Haryana has given a fillip to rice acreage, as planting has begun well ahead of the normal season.

Maize planting, too, has taken a quantum leap with Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra reporting higher acreages. The total maize area stood at 17.79 lh over corresponding last year’s 4.55 lh. In Karnataka, the maize area stood at 5.6 lh (36,000 lh), while in Maharashtra it was 2.94 lh (200 hectares).

millets

Total kharif millet area under jowar, bajra, ragi and small millets stood at 11.52 lh (1.03 lh).

Cotton acreage has seen a significant jump over last year in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, while the planting is over in the Northern States of Punjab and Haryana.

In Gujarat, cotton acreage stood at 11.26 lh (3.83 lh), while in Maharashtra, it stood at 16.51 lh (5.46 lh). In Andhra Pradesh, cotton acreage stood at 7.72 lh (6.53 lh) and Karnataka at 2.26 lh (1.06 lh).

vishwanath.kulkarni@thehindu.co.in

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