Overcoming lockdown restrictions, sowing of summer crops continues uninterrupted

New Delhi, April 14, 2020

Sowing of summer crops has progressed satisfactorily despite the difficulties experienced due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the 21-day lockdown effective since March 24 midnight to fight the COVID-19 disease, the Government has said.

Statistics compiled by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare as on April 10 reveal that the total area under summer crops (including rice, pulses, coarse cereals and oilseeds) cultivation has jumped significantly, registering an 11.64 lakh-hectare increase over last year.

As against a total cultivated area of 37.12 lakh ha in the year 2018-19, the summer crops have been sown in an area of 48.76 lakh ha this year, 2019-20, an official press release said. The normal area of the corresponding week in the last year was 41.81 lakh ha as on April 10.

Among the summer crops, the main driver of this growth in cultivable area is rice, clocking a robust 8.77 lakh-ha increase in sown area. All other crops have registered an increase in the sown area below 1 lakh ha, barring ragi coarse cereal which has registered a marginal decline of 0.06 lakh ha over the last year. About 32.58 lakh ha area coverage under summer rice has been reported compared to 23.81 lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year.

The area has been reported mainly from the States of West Bengal (11.25 lakh ha), Telangana (7.45 lakh ha), Odisha (3.13 lakh ha), Assam (2.73 lakh ha), Karnataka (1.64 lakh ha), Chhattisgarh (1.50 lakh ha), Tamil Nadu (1.30 lakh ha), Bihar (1.22 lakh ha), Maharashtra (0.65 lakh ha), Madhya Pradesh (0.59 lakh ha), Gujarat (0.54 lakh ha) and Kerala (0.46 lakh ha).

As regards pulses, about 3.97 lakh ha area coverage has been reported compared to 3.01 lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year. The area has been reported mainly from the States of Tamil Nadu (1.46 lakh ha), Uttar Pradesh (0.73 lakh ha), West Bengal (0.59 lakh ha), Gujarat (0.51 lakh ha), Chhattisgarh (0.24 lakh ha), Bihar (0.18 lakh ha), Karnataka (0.08 lakh ha), Punjab (0.05 lakh ha), Maharashtra (0.04 lakh ha), Madhya Pradesh (0.03 lakh ha), Jharkhand (0.03 lakh ha), Telangana (0.02 lakh ha) and Uttarakhand (0.01 lakh ha).

Among coarse cereals, about 5.54 lakh ha area coverage has been reported compared to 4.33 lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year. The area has been reported mainly from the States of Gujarat (2.27 lakh ha), West Bengal (1.21 lakh ha), Maharashtra (0.63 lakh ha), Bihar (0.41 lakh ha), Karnataka (0.39 lakh ha), Chhattisgarh (0.29 lakh ha), Tamil Nadu (0.26 lakh ha), Madhya Pradesh (0.08 lakh ha) and Jharkhand (0.01 lakh ha).

Among oilseeds, about 6.66 lakh ha sown area has been reported compared to 5.97 lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year. The area has been reported mainly from the States of West Bengal (1.33 lakh ha), Karnataka (1.30 lakh ha), Gujarat (1.09 lakh ha), Odisha (0.62 lakh ha), Maharashtra (0.58 lakh ha), Tamil Nadu (0.53 lakh ha), Andhra Pradesh (0.41 lakh ha), Uttar Pradesh (0.28 lakh ha), Telangana (0.21 lakh ha), Chhattisgarh (0.18 lakh ha), Haryana (0.06 lakh ha), Punjab (0.04 lakh ha), Bihar (0.03 lakh ha) and Madhya Pradesh (0.02 lakh ha), the release added.

NNN