Good monsoon rains so far this year has ensured that kharif sowing not just surpassed last year’s average by a considerable margin but may reach last five years’ average ‘normal area’ before the end of the month.

Total acreage of kharif crops till August 19 touched 992.76 lakh hectares (lh), which is 5.77 per cent higher than 938.57 lh in the comparablew period last year, according to data released by the Agriculture Ministry on Friday.

Sowing in the kharif season this year has already reached 93.43 per cent of the normal area of 1062.50 lakh hectares (average of the total area sown in the last five kharif seasons).

“Sowing has been healthy with acreage under most crops, led by pulses, showing an increase. We expect the normal sowing area to be reached by the end of the month,” an official in the Agriculture Ministry told BusinessLine .

Since the monsoon arrived more than a week late this June, sowing is expected to continue in the beginning of September as well, the official added.

While planting of rice, pulses, coarse cereals and oilseed has increased this year compared to last kharif, sowing of cash crops such as cotton, sugarcane and jute have declined.

The 38.43 per cent increase in pulses acreage to 136.04 lh is largely attributed to the increase in prices, while cotton acreage is down 12.45 per cent to 101.54 lakh hectares due to incidences of white-fly attack.

The sowing figures have been compiled by the Agriculture Ministry based on data supplied by States.

The favourable South-West monsoon this year promising a good crop comes after two subsequent years of drought.

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