The area under cultivation in the current rabi season for the first time this week surpassed that of corresponding period last year, according to the data released by the Agriculture Ministry on Friday.

The total acreage under the rabi this year stood at 514.22 lakh hectares (lh), a marginal 1 per cent rise from 509.12 lh during the same period last year. However, the acreage of wheat, oilseeds and coarse cereals was slightly down, whereas that of rice and pulses continues to be higher.

The acreage under wheat was 245.50 lh — nearly 2 per cent lower than 250.48 lh same period last year. Oilseeds have covered 70.73 lh (74.76 lh) so far, and coarse cereals have been sown on 46.93 lh — down 2 per cent. Area of pulses cultivation, on other hand, was inching closer to normal for the entire season at 138.19 lh, up 8.8 per cent than the corresponding period last year.

The area covered by rice, though small compared with other rabi crops, was up 40 per cent at 12.88 lh, thanks to a spurt in rice acreage in Tamil Nadu, which received bountiful rains after three years of continuous drought.

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