Kharif crops sowing area increased to above 575 lakh hectares
16-Jul-2024 11:35 AM
New Delhi. The latest data of the Union Agriculture Ministry shows that during the current year, the total production area of Kharif crops has increased to 575.13 lakh hectares, which is about 54 lakh hectares more than the sowing area of 521.25 lakh hectares during the same period last year.
Under this, there has been an increase in the area of paddy, pulses, oilseeds, sugarcane and cotton, but there has been some reduction in the area of coarse grains and jute-merta.
According to the data of the ministry, during the Kharif season of 2024, compared to the year 2023, the production area of paddy has jumped from 95.78 lakh hectares to 115.64 lakh hectares,
the sowing area of sugarcane has improved from 56.86 lakh hectares to 57.68 lakh hectares and the area of cotton has increased from 93.02 lakh hectares to 95.79 lakh hectares.
The production area of pulses crops has increased from 49.50 lakh hectares last year to 62.32 lakh hectares this year.
Under this, the sowing area of Arhar (Tuvar) jumped from 9.66 lakh hectares to 28.14 lakh hectares and the area of Urad increased from 12.75 lakh hectares to 13.90 lakh hectares, but on the other hand the production area of moong decreased from 19.57 lakh hectares to 15.79 lakh hectares.
Although the area of Kulthi remained stable at 12 thousand hectares, the sowing area of other pulses fell from 7.40 lakh hectares to 4.37 lakh hectares.
Sowing of pulse crops is still going on. Similarly, the total production area of oilseed crops jumped from 115.08 lakh hectares last year to 140.43 lakh hectares this time.
Under this, especially the sowing area of soybean increased from 82.44 lakh hectares to 108.10 lakh hectares.
The area of sunflower also improved from 34 thousand hectares to 51 thousand hectares. But on the other hand, the production area of groundnut slipped from 28.27 lakh hectares to 28.20 lakh hectares, the area of sesame decreased from 3.59 lakh hectares to 3.21 lakh hectares and the sowing area of castor fell from 39 thousand hectares to 16 thousand hectares. There has been some increase in the area of Niger Seed.
The total production area of coarse grains decreased from 104.99 lakh hectares last year to 97.64 lakh hectares this time.
Though the sowing area under maize jumped from 43.84 lakh hectare to 58.86 lakh hectare, the sowing area under millet fell from 50.09 lakh hectare to 28.32 lakh hectare and that under sorghum fell from 8.64 lakh hectare to 7.39 lakh hectare.