The total area sown under kharif crops in the current season has increased by 26.93 lakh hectares to 1,105.42 lakh hectares, as on September 5, compared with the corresponding figure of 1,078.49 lakh hectares in the same period last year, data released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on Monday showed. This marks 2.5% rise on year.
The area under rice is 438.28 lakh hectares, so far this year, going up by 19.63 lakh hectares from 418.66 lakh hectares during the same period last year.
The area under pulses such as urad and moong has gone up to 116.40 lakh hectares as compared to 114.46 lakh hectares during the same period last year.
The area covered under coarse cereals or millets such as jowar, bajra, and ragi has shot up by 12.09 lakh hectares to 191.71 lakh hectares during the current season so far, compared to the same period of the previous year.
The area under sugarcane has also increased to 57.31 lakh hectares, which is 1.64 lakh hectares higher than the corresponding figure for the same period of the previous year