Total crop area crosses 967 Lakh hectares in Kharif

New Delhi: The total area sown under kharif crops in the current season so far is estimated at 967.92 lakh hectares as on August 7 this year, compared with the corresponding figure of 985.89 lakh hectares in the same period last year, data released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on Tuesday showed.

The official figures show that the area under rice is 344.78 lakh hectares so far this year, compared with 360.67 lakh hectares during the same period last year.

The 15.9 per cent decline in the area sown so far is attributed to the deficient monsoon this year following the adverse impact of the El Nino weather pattern.

The area under pulses such as urad and moong is only marginally lower at 103.78 lakh hectares compared with 105.73 lakh hectares during the same period last year, as the crop requires less water.

The area covered under coarse cereals or millets such as jowar, bajra, and ragi has been estimated at 168.50 lakh hectares during the current season so far, which has fallen from 173.21 lakh hectares in the same period of the previous year.

The area under sugarcane, which is an annual crop sown earlier, touched 58.31 lakh hectares so far compared to the corresponding figure of 58.62 lakh hectares for the same period of the previous year.