The process of rice sowing has picked up well and the total area covered so far is 227.81 lakh hectare. It is about 13 lakh ha more than last year during the same time. Sowing of other Kharif crops too have picked up in the last few days and the total sown area as on Friday stands at 764.28 lakh hectare compared to 703.43 lakh hectare at this time last year. Sowing of pulses too is on the higher side — 82.44 lakh ha (61.15 last year), coarse cereals 148.49 lakh ha (125.50 last year), oilseeds 148.52 lakh ha (135.60) while cotton at 101.91 lakh ha is lower than last year (104.84).
Despite the sowing picking up well, the Kharif plantation still remains lower than the average. Normal rice sowing for instance is 388.31 lakh ha, pulses should have been 108.18 lakh ha, coarse cereals 201.97 lakh ha, oilseeds 182.30 lakh ha, and cotton 115.02 lakh ha. With the sowing in several areas still on in several states, agriculture ministry is hopeful that the gap will be covered up soon.
Higher quantity of rice sowing has been noted from Jharkhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh while the traditional rice belt states like Orissa, West Bengal, Maharahstra, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh have reported some lesser sowing this time.