Acreages of paddy, the main cereal crop for the kharif cropping season, crossed 40 million hectares on Friday, marking an increase of 8 per cent over the previous year, as more farmers have taken up planting in States such as Telangana, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, among others.

The transplanting of paddy will continue in several States till the end of this month while sowing for majority of the crops for the season has come to an end. This increase in acreages has raised the prospects for yet another bumper harvest this cropping season.

Timely arrival of monsoon and surplus precipitation, coupled with the availability of timely inputs including farm labour has boosted the overall kharif acreage by about 6 per cent this year to a record 1,104.54 lakh ha. The sowing figures are expected to be finalised by October 1.

While Punjab has witnessed a decline of about 1.83 lakh ha in paddy area as farmers have switched over to cotton and maize, others rice-producing States such as West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Manipur have registered an increase in acreages.

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Total acreage under pulses has risen 4.64 per cent with moongbean area clocking an increase of 16 per cent, followed by pigeonpea at 6.41 per cent. The harvest of moong has already commenced in Karnataka and Maharashtra, where prices are ruling below the minimum support price of ₹7,185 per quintal.

Among coarse cereals, acreage under ragi has registered a growth of 6.3 per cent, while bajra and jowar and maize have clocked a marginal increase. However, the area under small millets has declined marginally.

Oilseed acreage

Oilseeds acreage has risen by about 11 per cent over last year, with groundnut area registering an increase of 30.76 per cent. Soyabean has also registered a 7 per cent increase. The recent heavy rain and flooding in parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh has hit the standing crop and the quality of the produce is likely to be impacted in some regions of these States. Area under sugarcane has gone up by 1.37 per cent to 52.46 lakh ha, while cotton has seen an increase of 2.12 per cent over last year. Jute and mesta area has also seen an increase of 1.68 per cent at 6.97 lakh ha.

A statement from Agriculture Ministry said that Covid-19 has had no impact on the progress of area coverage under kharif crops till date. The timely prepositioning of inputs by the government like seeds, pesticides, fertilisers, machinery and credit has made it possible for large coverage during pandemic lockdown conditions. Credit goes to farmers for timely action and adoption of technologies and taking benefit of government schemes, the statement said.

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