Planting of Kharif Crops : Paddy, Maize picked up due to S-W Monsoon

The Agriculture Ministry had released the Kharif acreage, in comparison to the last year's area to 8.5 percent. It is due to South West Monsoon advanced in Maharashtra and Odisha.

Acreage under maize is up 15 per cent over previous year’s 3.45 lh as farmers in Karnataka, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir are seen bringing in more area under the coarse cereal.

Farmers have planted paddy on about 6.32 LH which is about five per cent lower than the corresponding period last year. However, the acreage this year is 56 per cent over the normal area for the period.

The transplantation of paddy has also picked up mainly in the North-Eastern States such as Meghalaya, Nagaland, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The paddy area is also higher in Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

The area under pulses has been reported at 1.87 LH (1.98 LH). The higher area under pulses has been reported mainly in Uttar Pradesh, whereas the acreage in Karnataka and Uttarakhand, where sowing has begun, have been trailing over last year. The area under oilseeds is also trailing last year’s levels.

States such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand have reported higher acreage over corresponding last year, while the pace of sowing has been sluggish in Karnataka.

The lower area in cotton is mainly on account of dip in Punjab’s acreage, where the sowing is down 26 percent. The area is also marginally lower in Haryana and Rajasthan, while it is seen picking up in Karnataka.

The cash crops — cotton and sugarcane — are showing a divergent trend. Sugarcane acreage is up, while the area under cotton is down by 11.3 percent over corresponding period last year.

The sugarcane area is higher by 0.5 lh mainly on rise in acreage in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.