Planting of summer crops has picked up and the total acreage jumped by 15 per cent to exceed 56 lakh hectares till March 26 against 48.82 lakh ha during the same period a year ago, as per the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare’s latest data.

Paddy acreage went up to 36.87 lakh ha — an increase of 16 per cent over same period a year ago, as farmers in states such as West Bengal and Telangana planted more area under the cereal crop.

The area under pulses increased to 5.53 lakh ha (3.58 lakh ha), while that of coarse cereals stood at 6.79 lakh ha (6.72 lakh ha).

“The trend of summer sowing progress is very good as on date. Besides, the prospect of rabi crops is also very good and about 48 per cent of overall rabi crops have been harvested as on Friday. There is no impact of Covid-19 pandemic situation on progress of area coverage under summer crops in the country,” the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.

The area under summer maize crop has also increased marginally to 4.71 lakh ha (4.29 lakh ha), while bajra and jowar saw a dip in cultivation.

Coverage of oilseeds also reported a marginal increase at 7.20 lakh ha (6.91 lakh ha).

Rainfall across the country from March 1 till date has been 42 per cent lower and the live water storage in 130 reservoirs stood at 86 per cent of corresponding previous year.

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