Total area sown under Kharif crops crosses 597 lakh hectares

New Delhi, July 14 The area sown under the ongoing Kharif season has increased to 597.86 lakh hectares so far this year, compared with 560.59 lakh hectares in the same period last year, data released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on Monday showed.

The increase in sown area augurs well for higher production which in turn would increase the incomes of farmers and also help to keep food inflation in check.

The official figures show that the area under rice is 123.68 lakh hectares as on July 11 this year as compared to 111..85 lakh hectares during the same period last year.

The area under pulses such as Urad and Moog has been reported at 67.09 lakh hectares as compared to 53.39 lakh hectares during the same period last year. This increase of around 14 lakh hectares is a positive development as an increase in the production of pulses plays a key role in controlling inflation.

The area covered under coarse cereals or millets such as jowar, bajra and ragi has shot up to 116.3 lakh hectares during the current season so far, from 99.78 lakh hectares in the same period of the previous year.

The sown area has gone up in the current season as better monsoon rains have facilitated the sowing in unirrigated areas of the country which account for close to 50 per cent of the country’s farmland.

The area under sugarcane has also increased to 55.16 lakh hectares from 54.88 lakh hectares in the same period of the previous year.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on May 28 this year, approved an increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for 14 kharif crops for marketing season 2025-26 to ensure remunerative prices to the growers for their crops and incentivise production.

The highest absolute increase in MSP over the previous year has been recommended for nigerseed (Rs.820 per quintal) followed by ragi (Rs.596 per quintal), cotton (Rs.589 per quintal) and sesamum (Rs.579 per quintal).

--IANS

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