Slight Decline in Kharif Crop Sowing Area in Andhra Pradesh

Vijayawada: Due to a rainfall deficit in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, the paddy cultivation area during this Kharif season reached only 14.54 lakh hectares, marking a decrease of 1.51 lakh hectares from the previous year's 16.05 lakh hectares. Fluctuations in the sowing areas of other crops caused the total Kharif crop acreage to drop to 28.67 lakh hectares, down by 1.22 lakh hectares from the 29.89 lakh hectares recorded last year.

The sowing area for coarse cereals in Andhra Pradesh fell from 2.54 lakh hectares to 1.94 lakh hectares. Within this category, the area under maize declined from 1.98 lakh hectares to 1.40 lakh hectares, while the acreage for pearl millet (bajra) and finger millet (ragi) remained roughly the same as the previous year. Cotton cultivation area shrank from 4.89 lakh hectares last year to 4.72 lakh hectares this season.

However, the cultivation area for pulses surged from 3.80 lakh hectares to 4.79 lakh hectares. Specifically, the sowing area for pigeon pea (arhar/tur) increased from 3.36 lakh hectares to 4.13 lakh hectares, and the area under black gram (urad) rose from 28,000 hectares to 54,000 hectares. Green gram (moong) cultivation was limited to a smaller area.

The acreage for oilseeds also improved, rising from 2.35 lakh hectares to 2.47 lakh hectares. Within this segment, the area under groundnut increased from 1.85 lakh hectares to 1.90 lakh hectares.