Uneven monsoon hits Kharif sowing, paddy down 17%, arhar 18%

The data also shows that the area coverage under arhar, the most grown kharif pulse, is also down by 18.25 per cent to 25.81 lakh ha as on July 15 during the ongoing kharif season while compared to the 31.58 lakh ha during the same period last year. However, the overall area under kharif pulses has increased by 8.95 per cent to 72.66 lakh ha as on July 15 this year as against 66.69 lakh ha last year.

The data shows that the area coverage under oilseeds has increased by 7.38 per cent to 134.04 lakh ha as compared to 124.83 lakh ha during the corresponding period of the last year.

Paddy is the principal kharif crop and a drop in the area coverage under it is significant.

According to the Agriculture Ministry sources, “Higher area [under paddy] is reported from the States of Maharashtra (1.02 lakh ha), Rajasthan (0.75 lakh ha), Manipur (0.30 lakh ha), Nagaland (0.29 lakh ha), Arunachal Pradesh (0.24 lakh ha), J&K (0.13 lakh ha), Tamil Nadu (0.13 lakh ha) and Himachal Pradesh (0.12 lakh ha).”

“Less area [under paddy] is reported from the States of Uttar Pradesh (8.31 lakh ha), Odisha (3.61 lakh ha), Chhattisgarh (3.31 lakh ha), Bihar (2.71 lakh ha), Madhya Pradesh (2.62 lakh ha), Telangana (2.20 lakh ha), Jharkhand (1.91 lakh ha), Punjab (1.67 lakh ha), Assam (0.83 lakh ha), West Bengal (0.74 lakh ha),  Andhra Pradesh (0.57 lakh ha), Haryana (0.53 lakh ha), Tripura (0.51 lakh ha), Meghalaya (0.31 lakh ha), Gujarat (0.31 lakh ha), Karnataka (0.17 lakh ha), Uttarakhand (0.05 lakh ha), Kerala (0.03 lakh ha), Mizoram (0.03 lakh ha), and Goa (0.02 lakh ha),” the source added.