India - Paddy area increases by 15 lakh hectares, decrease in the area of pulses reported

The Ministry of Agriculture, India has released the latest data on the area sown of Kharif crops as of 18 August 2023. Presently sowing of the Kharif season is almost complete. This last week, the area under paddy has increased by 15 lakh hectares which is the main crop of the Kharif season. On the other hand, if we talk about pulses, there has been a decrease of up to 9 percent in the area. Apart from this, the sowing of oilseed crops, jute, and cotton has also decreased. However, the area under the sowing of coarse cereals and sugarcane has increased.

According to these figures, so far paddy has been sown in 360.79 lakh hectares. Last year, till this period, paddy was sown in 345.79 lakh hectare area.

There may have been a decrease in the area under oilseeds, but there has been an increase of 1 percent in the area under soybean crops. At present soybean has been sown in 124.15 lakh hectare. Last year, till this period, soybean was sown in 123.39 lakh hectare area. Apart from this, the area under groundnut has been 42.77 lakh hectares as compared to 44.48 lakh hectares. Similarly, the sunflower area has only 66 thousand hectares, which was a 1.85 lakh hectare area last year.

The most worrying situation is that of pulses crops in the current season. According to the latest data, at present pulses have been sown in 114.93 lakh hectare area as compared to 126.52 lakh hectare area last year. Urad sowing has come down to 30.19 lakh hectares as compared to a 35.42 lakh hectare area. The sowing of Arhar dal has decreased to 40.92 lakh hectares as compared to 43.72 lakh hectare area. Apart from this, there has also been a decrease in the area under moong. The area under Moong decreased to 30.39 lakh hectares, which was 33.07 lakh hectares last year. Similarly, a reduction in the sowing area of pulses will affect the production due to which their prices are expected to increase in the market.

Area: In lakh hectare