Area sown under kharif crops reached 108.2 million hectares by August 28, 2020. This is the highest acreage ever during kharif season. Acreage expanded by 7.2 per cent when compared to the area sown during the same period last year.
The area sown is higher by almost two million hectares when compared to normal acreage. Sown area is likely to rise further this year. Area sown under food grains has increased 7 per cent from last year same period.
Acreage under cereals reached 56.7 million hectares by end-August. It has increased 7.6 per cent on YoY basis. It was 97.3 per cent of the normal area sown by August 28.
Area under kharif pulses has crossed the normal acreage. It was 104.4 per cent of the normal area sown by August 28. Acreage under all major pulses like arhar, green gram and black gram has crossed the normal acreage for the season.
By end-August, area under sugarcane reached 13.5 million hectares. Acreage has expanded by 4.6 per cent and is 104.4 per cent of normal level.
Soyabean is the main oilseed sown during the kharif season. By August 28, soybean acreage reached 12.1 million hectares, the highest compared to area sown in the past six years.
At 12.8 million hectares, cotton acreage showed an increase of 2.8 per cent YoY. The largest cotton growing states of Gujarat and Maharashtra have seen a decline in acreage. But in Telangana, acreage expanded by over 30 per cent. In Punjab it increased by 24.6 per cent as farmers moved to cotton from rice.