Farmers in Karnataka are seen bringing in more area cotton, pulses and oilseeds this Kharif planting season. Acreages under cotton and sunflower have doubled till June 10, while pulses such as tur and green gram have increased as Kharif sowing is seen gaining pace.

Total acreages under the Kharif crop stood at 12.97 lakh hectares(lh) till June 10, an increase of 10 per cent compared to 11.73 lakh ha in the same period last year, according to the Karnataka Agriculture Department. The state has received 99 per cent more rains during the January-May period, while the overall precipitation showed a deficit of 19 per cent in the first ten days of this year’s monsoon season.

Till the end of May, about 3.18 lakh hectares were sown in districts like Chamarajanagar, Mandya, Hassan, Chikkamagalur, Tumkur, Koppal, Ramanagar, Mysuru and Chitradurga with crops such as jowar, greengram, blackgram, cowpea, sesamum, sunflower and cotton among others. This was ahead of the targeted 2.80 lakh ha for the period.

Cotton acreages stood at 1.21 lh as of June 10 compared to 0.59 lh in the same period last year. In several parts of Karnataka, including Chamrajanagar, Haveri and Gadag districts, the long-staple variety of cotton is planted early in the season, where farmers have brought in more area under the fibre crop.

Area under pulses up

Contrary to the expectations, the area under pulses is seen rising in the state, with total acreages increasing to 3.33 lh compared to 2.66 lh. Tur has been planted in some 0.67 lakh ha as compared to 0.48 lakh ha. Similarly, greengram has been planted in 1.82 lh (1.39 lh). However, the black gram area has reduced marginally to 0.27 lh ( 0.30 lh).

Maize acreages stood at 2.02 lakh ha (2.11 lakh ha), while the overall area under cereals crop stood lower at 2.70 (3.78 lh)

Among oilseeds, farmers are seen showing an increasing preference for sunflower and soyabean. The acreages under sunflower has almost doubled to 0.57 lh as compared to 0.29 lh, while soyabean acreages have increased to 0.47 lh (0.36 lh). Groundnut has been planted in 0.26 lh, the same as last year.

Sugarcane acreages have been a tad lower at 3.54 lh compared to 3.66 lh, while the tobacco area has increased to 0.71 lh (0.64 lh).

Karnataka has set a cereals production target of 97.61 lakh tonnes from an area of 35.98 lh. For pulses, the acreage target is 22.77 lh and production of 17.19 lakh tonnes. The state is targetting oilseeds acreage of 9.37 lh and for cotton, some 7.28 lh.

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