Paddy acreage down 17 pc so far in kharif season: Official data

The area under coverage for paddy is down 17.4 percent so far in the ongoing Kharif sowing season while acreage of pulses, coarse cereals, and oilseeds is higher by 7-9 percent. As per the Ministry of Agriculture data till July 15, the paddy sowing has reached 128.50 Lakh Hectares LH so far this Kharif season as against 155.53 LH in the corresponding period of the previous year. Paddy acreage has improved in the last week as sowing was down 24 percent as of July 8.

The area under coverage for paddy is down 17.4 percent so far in the ongoing Kharif sowing season while acreage of pulses, coarse cereals, and oilseeds is higher by 7-9 percent.

As per the Ministry of Agriculture data till July 15, the paddy sowing has reached 128.50 Lakh Hectares (LH) so far this Kharif season as against 155.53 LH in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Paddy acreage has improved in the last week as sowing was down 24 percent as of July 8. The rains this month will be crucial to compensate for the fall in the acreage of paddy.

However, the area under coverage for pulses has increased by 9 percent to 72.66 LH from 66.69 LH during the period under review.

The sowing area of coarse cereals is up 8 percent to 93.91 LH from 87.06 LH.

In the non-food grains category, the area under coverage for oilseeds has grown 7.38 percent to 134.04 LH from 124.83 LH.

Under oilseeds, the soybean area is up 10 percent to 99.35 LH from 90.32 LH.

The cotton acreage is up 6.44 percent so far to 102.8 LH from 96.58 LH. The sugarcane area is marginally down to 53.31 LH from 53.70 LH.

The total area under jute and mesta is slightly less so far at 6.89 LH compared to 6.92 LH in the same period last year.

The total area under coverage for Kharif is up marginally to 592.11 LH as of July 15 in the ongoing Kharif season from 591.3 LH in the same period last year.

The sowing of Kharif crops begins with the onset of the southwest monsoon in June. Paddy is a major Kharif crop.

Higher sowing areas of oilseeds augurs well for the country as this may lead to an increase in domestic production and reduce imports besides keeping retail prices under control.

India is heavily dependent on edible oil imports. The country imports around 60 percent of its domestic requirement through imports.

Edible oil imports stood at a record Rs 1.17 lakh crore during the 2020-21 oil year (November-October).

The country also imports pulses.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a normal monsoon this year.

On July 12, a senior Agriculture Ministry official said that there was ''some lag in sowing of Kharif crops so far but that is not a concern. That will be covered this month as the monsoon progresses.'' Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal, on July 6, asked states to increase the sowing area of paddy as demand for Indian rice in global markets remains high.

He asserted that there was no problem with rice stock in the central pool.