Kharif crop area increased due to good increase in paddy and pulses area
20-Jul-2024 12:43 PM
New Delhi. Latest data of Union Agriculture Ministry shows that during the current year till July 19, the total production area of Kharif crops at national level has increased to 704.04 lakh hectare which is much more than the sown area of 680.36 lakh hectare during the same period last year. Under this, especially paddy, pulses, oilseeds and sugarcane area has increased but coarse cereals and cotton area has decreased. According to available data, during the current Kharif season, compared to last year, the production area of pulses jumped from 70.14 lakh hectare to 85.79 lakh hectare, paddy area increased from 155.65 lakh hectare to 166.06 lakh hectare, sowing area of oilseeds increased from 150.91 lakh hectare to 163.11 lakh hectare and area of sugarcane improved from 57.05 lakh hectare to 57.68 lakh hectare. On the other hand, area of coarse cereals including Shri Anna fell from 134.91 lakh hectare to 123.72 lakh hectare and sowing area of cotton improved from 105.66 lakh hectare to 102.05 lakh hectare. In pulses crops, as expected, there has been a huge increase in the sowing of tur (tuvar) and its production area has jumped from 19.34 lakh hectares last year to 33.48 lakh hectares this time. Similarly, the sowing area of moong increased from 22.76 lakh hectares to 25.11 lakh hectares, but the area of urad fell from 19.86 lakh hectares to 19.62 lakh hectares. The area of moth also decreased from 6.08 lakh hectares to 4.95 lakh hectares.
In oilseed crops, the production area of groundnut increased from 33.15 lakh hectares to 37.34 lakh hectares and the sowing area of soybean jumped from 108.97 lakh hectares to 119.04 lakh hectares, while the area of sesame decreased from 7.15 lakh hectares to 5.61 lakh hectares and the area of castor fell from 1.14 lakh hectares to 29 thousand hectares. There has been some increase in the sowing area of sunflower and niger seed. Sowing of oilseed crops is still going on.
Among coarse cereals, the area of jowar fell from 10.07 lakh hectare to 9.81 lakh hectare and the sowing area of bajra fell from 57.99 lakh hectare to 42.09 lakh hectare. The area of ragi remained stable at 1.70 lakh hectare while the production area of maize increased from 63 lakh hectare to 67.78 lakh hectare. There is not much difference in the sowing of small millets.