The area under paddy cultivation is down by half-a-million hectares, compared to the previous kharif season, according to data released by the Agriculture Ministry on Friday.

Rice has been sown in 371.46 lakh hectares (ha), which is 1.44 per cent lower than 376.89 lakh ha covered during the corresponding period last year, mainly because of lesser sowing in the drought-hit Karnataka and flood-affected Assam. The total acreage under kharif cultivation, too, shrank to 1,041.17-lakh ha against 1,049.87-lakh ha in the same period last year.

Worst affected Oilseeds are the worst hit with acreage down by almost 10 per cent to 169.20-lakh ha, whereas the area under cotton cultivation went up by 18.94 per cent to 120.98-lakh ha in the same period.

Pulses cultivation There is nearly 4 per cent drop in area under pulses cultivation, with acreage under arhar and moong coming down by 18 per cent and 8 per cent to 42.81-lakh ha and 31.48-lakh ha respectively. Urad cultivation on the other hand is up by 21 per cent and now has covered a total area of 42.15-lakh ha compared to 34.83-lakh ha in the same period last year. Lesser sowing for pulses was mainly reported from Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The total area under pulses cultivation is 139.17-lakh ha.

The sowing of coarse cereals, on the other hand, recovered slightly compared to last week, with ragi sowing picking up momentum in Karnataka. There is also improvement in the acreage under bajra cultivation by nearly 4 per cent to 71.38-lakh ha.

With most parts of the country receiving good showers, there is substantial improvement in water levels in reservoirs across the country. The cumulative water levels in 91 monitored reservoirs have increased to 58 per cent of the storage capacity to 91.2-billion cubic metres.

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