Area under kharif crops was lower by 11.6 per cent Y-o-Y as of July 16, 2021. At 61.2 million hectares, area under cultivation was 57 per cent of the normal area sown.
During the ongoing kharif season, sowing of coarse cereals took the biggest hit. As of July 16, 2021, except for maize, area sown under other coarse cereals trailed last year's area sown by a significant margin.
Pulses acreage was down 12.1 per cent at 7.1 million hectares.
Sugarcane sowing has bucked the trend, with area sown by the crop 1.7 per cent higher than last year and 113 per cent of normal.
Area under cultivation for all major oil seeds was down by 13.7 per cent at 12.9 million hectares as of July 16, 2021.
The area sown by cotton crop was lower 12.9 per cent YoY. Around 9.8 million hectares acres was sown with cotton by mid-July compared to 11.3 million hectares sown by the same time last year.
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