Thanks to good monsoon, the area under rice cultivation this kharif season has gone up by 6.4 per cent. Last year, paddy cultivation had suffered owing to drought in 399 districts during the same period.
As per the official data released by the Ministry of Agriculture, paddy had been sown in 35.8 million hectares till October 7, compared to 33.14 million hectares in the corresponding period last year, showing an increase of 2.7 million hectares over the same period.
Kharif crops have been sown in 102.19 million hectare area as against in 95.75 million hectares last year, registering an increase of 6.9 per cent.
There has been a major enhancement in the cultivation of pulses that have been sown in 11.59 million hectares this year. This is 1.8 million hectares more than that in the corresponding period last year.
The area under coarse cereals is also higher by 2.91 per cent at 21.2 million hectares against 20.6 million hectares sown last year.
The area under sugarcane is higher by 20.41 per cent, while the area under cotton increased by 8.9 per cent and jute acreage went up by 9.68 per cent over last year.
The cultivation of oilseeds has shown a marginal increase of 0.32 per cent. The oilseeds acreage is 17.5 million hectares this year compared to 17.4 million hectares sown last year.
