Pushed by an active monsoon this season, Kharif crops were sown on around 979.89 lakh hectares as of August 12, up from 966.40 lakh hectares a year ago, according to agriculture ministry data.
An area of 331.78 lakh hectares was covered under paddy as compared to 318.16 lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year. In pulses, 117.43 lakh hectares were covered against 110.08 lakh hectares in the same period last year.
Kharif crops are usually sown at the beginning of the first rains during the advent of the south-west monsoon season depending on region to region, and they are harvested at the end of the monsoon season around October and November.
At least 173.13 lakh hectares were covered under coarse cereals compared to 171.36 lakh hectares last year. In oilseeds, 183.69 lakh hectares were covered against 182.17 lakh hectares last year.
The country’s normal area (last five years’ average) is 1,095.84 lakh hectares in the kharif season. A slow start to the monsoon did cause some worries but in July it picked up pace. The India Meteorological Department has forecast above-average rainfall for the overall June-September monsoon season.
There has been a rise in coverage of ‘arhar’ to 44.57 lakh hectares from 38.49 lakh hectares last year. The area under ‘urad’ was 27.76 lakh hectares against 28.83 lakh hectares last year.
Among cash crops, the area under sugarcane was up marginally to 57.68 lakh hectares from 57.11 lakh hectares, cotton acreage was down to 110.49 lakh hectares from 121.24 lakh hectares, while jute-mesta acreage was lower at 5.70 lakh hectares on 12 August as against 6.28 lakh hectares a year ago.
Meanwhile, as per the third advance estimates 2023-24 released on 4 June 2024 by the department of agriculture and farmers’ welfare, government of India, the area under commercial/cash crops increased from 18,214.19 thousand hectares in the agriculture year 2021-22 to 18,935.22 thousand hectares in agriculture year 2023-24.
The production of commercial/cash crops such as sugarcane, cotton, jute & mesta also increased from 4,80,692 thousand tons in the agriculture year 2021-22 to 4,84,757 thousand tons in the agriculture year 2023-24.
According to the NITI Aayog Working Group Report, 2018, the demand and supply of foodgrains are estimated to be to the tune of 337.01 million tons and 386.25 million tons, respectively, for the future year 2032-2033, which indicates that the overall food grains will have quite a comfortable position as far as food security is concerned, government data showed.
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Naresh Khanna – 10 February 2025
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