Kharif sowing nears to end; paddy acreage down by 5.51%
The Hindu
The total sown area under kharif crops declined 1.24% to 1,097.57 lakh hectares so far this kharif season, as against 1,111.36 lakh hectares in the year-ago period
As sowing of kharif (summer) crops almost comes to an end, paddy planting continued to lag behind as sown area under this crop fell 5.51% from last year to 401.56 lakh hectare so far, according to the agriculture ministry.
Besides paddy, there is marginal lag in sowing of pulses, oilseeds and jute/mesta. Consequently, the total sown area under kharif crops declined 1.24% to 1,097.57 lakh hectares so far this kharif season, as against 1,111.36 lakh hectares in the year-ago period, it said.
Sowing of kharif crops had begun with the onset of southwest monsoon from June. Harvesting of some kharif crops has started and will be in full swing from October.
Releasing the latest sowing update, the agriculture ministry said area planted to paddy remained lower by 5.51% at 401.56 lakh hectares (ha) so far this kharif season of the 2022-23 crop year (July-June), as against 425 lakh hectares in the year-ago period.
Less coverage in paddy area was reported from Jharkhand (9.32 lakh ha), Madhya Pradesh (6.32 lakh ha), West Bengal (3.65 lakh ha), Uttar Pradesh (2.48 lakh ha) and Bihar (1.97 lakh ha), it said.
Paddy coverage remained less even in these states: Assam (0.95 lakh ha), Andhra Pradesh (0.75 lakh ha), Chhattisgarh (0.63 lakh ha), Tripura (0.27 lakh ha), Meghalaya (0.21 lakh ha), Odisha (0.21 lakh ha), Nagaland (0.21 lakh ha), Punjab (0.12 lakh ha), Goa (0.03 lakh ha), Mizoram (0.03 lakh ha), Sikkim (0.02 lakh ha) and Kerala (0.02 lakh ha).
Paddy coverage has been affected due to deficit rainfall. The ministry in its first advance estimate has projected 6% fall in kharif rice production at 104.99 million tonnes.
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