The area allocated to monsoon-sown rice crops has surged 58 per cent from a year earlier to 1.32 million hectares (3.3 million acres) as of Friday, according to agriculture ministry.
Farmers have planted pulses on 944,000 hectares of farmland, climbing 42 per cent from a year earlier, the ministry said in a statement late Monday. Cotton planting has increased to 3.1 million hectares, up 7.4 per cent from a year earlier, it said.
Rains have been 2 per cent above normal so far in the monsoon period that runs from June to September, according to the India Meteorological Department. Sowing normally begins in late May, while harvesting typically starts in late September.
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