Kharif crop area reduced while sugarcane rice increased

Special Desk

By the end of September, some 110.5 million hectares was cultivated under kharif crops but this figure was 0.8% less than the area sown by the same time in 2020.

It is 103% of the normal area sown. Though area sown under rice marginally exceeded last year’s figure, area sown under pulses, sugarcane and jute and mesta also exceeded last year’s area sown. Coarse cereals, oilseeds and cotton, however, trailed last year’s sown area.

Area sown under rice recorded a marginal increase of 0.2% by September 17 compared to the same period a year ago. At 41.4 million hectares, area sown under rice was the highest ever. States like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Assam recorded expansion in area under rice cultivation.

In Madhya Pradesh, area sown expanded by 18.75. This was 0.5 million hectares of additional area brought under rice cultivation. States such as West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Bihar brought lower area under rice cultivation till 17 September 2021 as compared to the same period last year.

Area sown under coarse cereals was lower by 2.3%. Maize accounts for around 45% of the total area covered under coarse cereals. Area under maize expanded by 1.6%. But bajra, which is the second largest coarse cereal in terms of sown area, recorded 7.7% lower area. Jowar also recorded a decline of 3.2% in sown area.

Also Read : 9168 skilled youth from UP get apprenticeship contracts through Apprenticeship Mela

At 5.5 million hectares, sugarcane area increased by 1.6%. Area under pulses expanded by 2.1% to 14.1 million hectares by September 17. Area under arhar and black gram expanded whereas that under green gram remained marginally lower compared to last year. More than 5 million hectares was brought under arhar cultivation. This is only the second instance when area under arhar exceeded 5 million hectares.

Area under black gram increased by 2% to 3.9 million hectares. Area increased significantly in Maharashtra and Gujarat. But, Madhya Pradesh, the state with the largest area under black gram, recorded 2.2% lower area. Area under green gram was marginally lower by 0.4%. Area in Rajasthan and Karnataka increased but it was lower in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.