Paddy, pulses and millet sowing area swells to 108.7 million hectares on better monsoon rainfall

By Dhirendra Kumar

With better distribution of monsoon rainfall over the past fortnight, the sowing of paddy has exceeded the normal area of 40.15 million hectares by 1.78%.

Additionally, at 40.87 million hectares, the current level of paddy sown has risen by 15.15% from the sowing area of 39.35 million hectares last year, the ministry of agriculture & farmers welfare said in a statement on Monday. Normal sowing area refers to the average area of land on which a crop has been cultivated during the period from 2018-19 to 2022-23.

Sowing of coarse cereals, or Shree Anna, also exceeded the normal sowing area of 18.08 million hectares, expanding to 18.77 million hectares, reflecting a growth of about 3.8% as of 30 August. The sowing area of coarse cereals rose by 6.68% from 18.1 million hectares last year.

The sowing of pulses climbed 8.47% to 12.51 million hectares this year compared with 11.66 million hectares last year.

Growth in sowing is a promising indicator for the agriculture sector and the government’s efforts to boost farm productivity. The total sowing area reached 108.7 million hectares from 106.6 million hectares a year earlier, registering an increase of 20.44%.

This largely alleviates concerns over a surge in food inflation, which has remained more persistent than headline inflation in recent months. India’s Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) escalated to 8.9% in the June quarter after averaging 7.5% in FY24.

The improved sowing of pulses is a positive indicator that could potentially lead to a decrease in prices of this essential source of protein, assuming a good harvest. The data also shows a broad increase across various crop categories.

Tur (arhar) alone accounted for 4.57 million hectares. Varieties of pulses include tur, urad, and moong–all staples in Indian kitchens. The expansion in pulses cultivation is significant in light of the government’s efforts to boost production of protein-rich crops to meet domestic demand.

Oilseed cultivation increased modestly, with the area sown expanding to 19.06 million hectares from 18.88 million hectares. Sugarcane cultivation remained stagnant at 5.76 million hectares compared with 5.71 million hectares last year.

However, not all crop categories showed positive growth trends. The area sown with jute and mesta fell to 570,000 hectares from 656,000 hectares, and cotton cultivation declined to 11.17 million hectares from 12.31 million hectares in the previous year.

This article has been republished from The Livemint.