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Kharif sowing made a slow progress tracking the delay in monsoon. The total acreage, so far, is 224.5 lakh hectares (lh), down 19 per cent over last year’s 278.7 lh.
Farmers have planted more of cash crops such as cotton and sugarcane, while acreage under foodgrains, coarse cereals and oilseeds trails by a considerable margin.
Rice has been planted in 55.4 lh, down 26 per cent over previous year’s 75.12 lh.
Planting of rice is yet to pick up in States such as Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The total area under coarse cereals is down by 58 per cent at 21.95 lh (52 lh).
Bajra has seen the biggest fall in area at 1.17 lh (2.3 lh), mainly due to poor acreage in Rajasthan.
Jowar has been sown in 3.9 lh (5.65 lh), ragi in 38,300 ha (1.96 lh), small millets in 2.04 lh (2.11 lh) and maize in 14.43 lh (19.28 lh).
The area under pulses has increased marginally at 13.04 lh against 12.38 lh with higher acreage under tur and moong.
Oilseed acreage, too, is down 29 per cent at 26.55 lh (37.35 lh). Groundnut acreage stood at 5.87 lh (9.4 lh), while soyabean has been planted in 18.99 lh (25.50 lh).
The area under cotton saw a 9 per cent rise to 46.6 lh, against 42.8 lh, primarily led by 55 per cent increase in acreage in Andhra Pradesh.
Sugarcane acreage rose further to 52.78 lh, higher than the targeted 51.12 lha. Farmers in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have planted more acreage over last year, while Karnataka has seen a drop.
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