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As kharif planting enters the last phase, the acreage under key crops, such as rice and cotton, has picked up on better rains during the week.
Rains across central parts reduced the overall monsoon deficit to 17 per cent for the June 1-August 8 period as against 20 per cent last week.
So far, about half of the 36 metrological sub-divisions have received normal rains, while the rest continue to remain deficient or scanty.
Rice area has picked up as paddy was transplanted on about 30 lakh hectares (lh) in the past six days, taking the overall acreage to 264.39 lh.
However, the acreage fell short by 23.46 lh or 9 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year.
Officials in the Agriculture Ministry are hopeful of making up the shortfall as transplanting goes on till end-August.
The shortfall is mainly on account of lower area covered in West Bengal by 8.23 lh and Uttar Pradesh by about 5.05 lh.
States such as Bihar and Chhattisgarh have reported higher rice acreage.
Coarse cereals, pulses
The sowing of coarse cereals continued to be sluggish at 140.89 lh (175.14 lh).
Though acreage under maize stood at 65.66 lh, down by 4.5 per cent over the corresponding period previous year, the acreage under bajra continued to trail by a 36 per cent at 46.03 lh.
The acreage under pulses also made slow progress.
Though the area under tur and urad continued to be almost on par with last year’s acreage of 31 lh and 19 lh respectively, a shortfall was witnessed in moong whose acreage was down almost 30 per cent at 14.24 lh against last year’s 21 lh, mainly on account of poor sowing in Rajasthan.
Among oilseeds, soyabean registered a higher acreage of 105 lh, a rise of 5 per cent, while the area under groundnut continued to trail at 32.48 lh(37 lh).
The shortfall in groundnut acreage is on account of poor rains in Saurashtra affecting the sowing.
Acreage of cash crops such as cotton, however, caught up with last year’s 109 lh, while sugarcane is higher by 2.29 lh at 52.88 lh.
The total kharif acreage trails by 77.57 lh or about 9 per cent at 802.09 lh.
vishwanath.kulkarni@thehindu.co.in
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