Area under coverage for paddy fell 3 per cent to 405.10 lakh hectares so far in the ongoing Kharif season due to low rainfall in some parts of the country, according to government data.
The paddy sowing stood at 418.29 lakh hectares in the year-ago period.
The decline in paddy area is mainly attributable to substantial reductions reported in Karnataka, Telangana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Maharashtra, the agriculture Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
Pulses acreage has, however, increased marginally to 113.63 lakh hectares till August 21 of this sowing season as compared to 112.14 lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year.
Sowing of Shree Anna and coarse cereals dropped to 176.36 lakh hectares from 179.81 lakh hectares.
Oilseeds acreage fell marginally to 188.37 lakh hectares from 188.69 lakh hectares. Area under cotton fell slightly to 108.45 lakh hectares as compared to 108.73 lakh hectares.
Sugarcane acreage also fell marginally to 58.44 lakh hectares from 58.87 lakh hectares.
Total area under all Kharif crops fell 1056.70 lakh hectare till August 21 of this Kharif season from 1072.77 lakh hectares in the year-ago period.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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