By Pramod Kumar Jha
Sowing of crops in the current kharif season has gained momentum due to good monsoon. The area under sowing of all kharif crops increased by 104 per cent over the previous year.
While the area under oilseeds increased by 525 per cent from the previous year and the sowing of pulses increased by about 222 per cent. The planting and sowing of paddy, the main crop of the Kharif season, has been 35 per cent higher than the previous year.
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According to the data released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on Friday, the kharif crops in the crop year 2020-21 (July-June) have been sown in 315.63 lakh hectare, which is 161.11 lakh hectare or 104.25 per cent more as compared to the same period last year.
So far, paddy has been planted in 37.71 lakh hectare this year, which is 9.35 lakh hectare or around 35 per cent higher than the previous year. The area under pulses increased by 13.37 lakh hectare, or 221.72 per cent, to 18.48 lakh hectare from last year. The acreage of tur in pulses has increased by 8.04 lakh hectare to 9.97 lakh hectare since last year. At the same time, area under urad and moong has increased to 2.75 lakh hectare and 5.30 lakh hectare respectively.
Paddy has been planted in 37.71 lakh hectare this year. Pixabay
Meanwhile, the area under coarse cereals has increased by about 96 per cent to 47.96 lakh hectare since last year. Due to the destruction of the poultry industry during the pandemic, farmers have not been able to get remunerative prices for maize this year, yet their interest in sowing has not diminished. Maize acreage has doubled to 31.27 lakh hectare since last year.
The area under oilseeds has increased by 69.99 lakh hectare, or 525 per cent, to 83.31 lakh hectare from the same period last year. The area under groundnut has increased by 8.63 lakh hectare to 18.45 lakh hectare from the same period last year. At the same time, the acreage of soybean has so far increased to 63.26 lakh hectare from 2.66 lakh hectare during the same period last year. Thus, the area under soybean has increased by 60.61 lakh hectare i.e. 2278.57 per cent over the previous year.
The area under cotton has increased to 71.69 lakh hectare so far this year, which is 44.61 lakh hectare i.e. 164.73 per cent more than the same period last year.
Sugarcane crop has been planted by farmers in about 49.69 lakh hectare as compared to 49.03 lakh hectare in the same period last year.
Sugarcane crop has been planted by farmers in about 49.69 lakh hectare this year. Pixabay
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Sowing of jute and mesta has been done in about 5.88 lakh hectare as compared to 6.66 lakh hectare in the same period last year.
According to the information received from the Indian Meteorological Department on Friday, the monsoon has reached the entire country and the distribution of rainfall has also been good.
The entire country received 21 per cent more rainfall than the average during the first 25 days after the monsoon hit Kerala on June 1. According to the meteorological department, from June 1 to June 25, the entire country received 155.2 mm of rain while the average rainfall during this period is 128.2 mm. (IANS)