Kharif Crop acreage up further; Oilseed area jumps by 13%, Rice sowing up 10%

Planting operations continues in the country and latest Government report shows further progress in the net cropped area. The area planted as on August 28 has gone up by nearly 7.15% over last year’s corresponding period. So far, the planted area has reached nearly 1 thousand 82 Lakh hectares. There has been an increase of nearly 10% in cultivation of Rice. On the other hand, Oilseeds’ planted area has registered a jump of roughly 13 per cent.  

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, as on 28.08.2020, the total Kharif crops sown is 1082.22 Lakh ha area against 1009.98 Lakh ha area during the corresponding period of last year. Given below is the sowing area coverage under Kharif crops and till now farmers have grown:  

Rice: Total area cropped has gone to 389.81 Lakh ha as compared with 354.41 Lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year – an increment of 35.40 Lakh ha therefore.  

Pulses: Pulses acreage has risen by roughly 5.91 Lakh hectares and till date the sown area has reached 134.57 Lakh ha area versus 128.65 Lakh ha during last year’s corresponding period.  

Coarse Cereals: Coarse cereal acreage is about 176.89 Lakh ha till date – a rise of 4.40 Lakh ha more area compared to last year’s corresponding period of 172.49 Lakh ha.  

Oilseeds: Area under Oilseeds has gone up to 193.29 Lakh ha versus 170.99 Lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year. Therefore year on year increase is 22.30 lakh ha (for the corresponding period).  

Sugarcane: Sugarcane area is reported at 2.29 Lakh ha area and during last years’ corresponding period the cropped area was 51.68 Lakh ha. Over previous year, sugarcane cultivation has shown an increase of 0.61 Lakh ha.   

Jute & Mesta: Jute & Mesta is sown in around 6.97 Lakh ha area coverage versus 6.86 Lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year. Thus 0.11 Lakh ha more area is being recorded versus last year. 

Cotton: Planted area in cotton has risen by nearly 3.50 Lakh ha compared to last year’s corresponding year. About 128.41 Lakh ha area coverage under cotton as compared to 124.90 Lakh ha during last year. 

Roughly three weeks back, the Central Water Commission (CWC) had reported the live water storage in 123 reservoirs in different parts of the country, to be 88% of the corresponding period of the last year. In the current week the Commission has reported an improvement i.e. 102 per cent storage of water across 123 reservoirs in different parts of the country compared to last year corresponding period. This information has raised