Record area of 1095 lakh hectare covered under current Kharif crops season: Government

The government today said that in the current Kharif season, record area of over 1,095.38 lakh hectare has been covered on the back of good rains and timely pre-positioning of crop inputs. The sowing of rice still continues while sowing of pulses, coarse cereals, millets and oilseeds is almost over.

The final sowing figures for the current Kharif season will be closed on October 2, according to the agriculture ministry.

The previous record was achieved in 2016 when farmers had sown Kharif crops in a total area of 1,075.71 lakh hectare. Kharif sowing begins with the onset of southwest monsoon from June and harvesting from October onwards.

According to the ministry's data, Kharif crops have been sown in a record area of 1,095.38 lakh hectare so far this season, as against 1,030.32 lakh hectare in the year-ago. Good rains and the timely prepositioning of inputs like seeds, pesticides, fertilisers, machinery and credit has made it possible for large coverage even during pandemic lockdown conditions, it said.

Credit goes to farmers for timely action and adoption of technologies and taking benefit of government schemes.

The ministry added, there is no impact of COVID-19 on the progress of area coverage under Kharif crops as on date.

The Ministry said rice has been sown in 396.18 lakh hectare, up 8.27 per cent as compared to 365.92 lakh hectare during the corresponding period of last year.

Pulses have been sown in on 136.79 lakh hectare, up 4.67 per cent, as against 130.68 lakh hectare area of last year. The area sown to coarse cereals has been 179.36 lakh hectare up 1.77 per cent, as compared to 176.25 lakh hectare in the year-ago.

Similarly, the area under oilseeds increased sharply to 194.75 lakh hectare, up 12 per cent so far, in the current Kharif season as against 174.00 lakh hectare in the year-ago.

Among cash crops, sugarcane area rose to 52.38 lakh hectare, up 1.30 per cent, from 51.71 lakh hectare, while that of cotton acreage rose to 128.95 lakh hectare, up 3.24 per cent, from 124.90 lakh hectare in the period. There has been a 9 per cent increase in the overall rainfall in the country so far.