New Delhi: The area under coverage for paddy has increased by about 4% to 398.08 lakh hectares in the ongoing kharif sowing season against 383.79 lakh hectares in the same period last year, according to the data released by the Ministry of Agriculture.
However, the area under pulses cultivation has shrunk by 8% to 117.44 lakh hectares (LH) from 130.13 LH in the year-ago period.
The area under coverage for paddy has increased in eight states in the ongoing kharif sowing season.
The increase is highest in Bihar, where the area under paddy cultivation has gone up by 5 lakh hectares. Other states where the area under paddy has increased are Chhattisgarh (4.66 lakh hectares), Jharkhand (1.82 lakh hectares), West Bengal (1.56 lakh hectares), Madhya Pradesh (1.48 lakh hectares), Haryana (1.29 lakh hectares), Uttar Pradesh (1.21 lakh hectares), and Telangana (33,000 hectares).
The area coverage under coarse cereals has grown marginally to 181.06 LH from 179.13 LH a year ago.
Oilseeds area also dipped slightly to 190.11 LH till now compared to 191.91 LH.
Groundnut sowing area declined to 43.37 LH from 45 LH, and the area of soyabean has expanded to 125.13 LH from 123.91 LH.
