NEW DELHI: Kharif crop planting has picked up in the past week, boosted by fresh spells of rains in particularly northeast and eastern India, but still is marginally lower than the level this time last year.
NEW DELHI: Kharif crop planting has picked up in the past week, boosted by fresh spells of rains in particularly northeast and eastern India, but still is marginally lower than the level this time last year.
Planting on 924.76 lakh hectares this season is 1.48% less than a year earlier, data from the agriculture ministry showed on Friday. Total area to be planted in kharif season is estimated at 1,058.10 lakh hectares. Coarse cereals, cotton, rice and pulses have seen a fall in acreage while oilseeds and sugarcane showed an increase.
Monsoon data showed rains were 11% below normal since June 1. Still, India’s 91 major reservoirs together held 5% more water than at this time last year, suggesting better water availability for crops after the monsoon ends. At 77.554 billion cubic metres, the water level is 2% less than the 10-year average.
Farmers in the rain-fed parts of West Bengal, Bihar and the north-eastern states will now start rice planting which will cover 2.85% of the remaining area, government officials said.
Planting on 924.76 lakh hectares this season is 1.48% less than a year earlier, data from the agriculture ministry showed on Friday. Total area to be planted in kharif season is estimated at 1,058.10 lakh hectares. Coarse cereals, cotton, rice and pulses have seen a fall in acreage while oilseeds and sugarcane showed an increase.
Monsoon data showed rains were 11% below normal since June 1. Still, India’s 91 major reservoirs together held 5% more water than at this time last year, suggesting better water availability for crops after the monsoon ends. At 77.554 billion cubic metres, the water level is 2% less than the 10-year average.
Farmers in the rain-fed parts of West Bengal, Bihar and the north-eastern states will now start rice planting which will cover 2.85% of the remaining area, government officials said.