TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ The sharp improvement in southwest monsoon in the last few weeks has vastly improved the sowing of pulses and coarse cereals and narrowed the difference with the acreage covered during the same period last year.
However, the areas under paddy – the biggest cereal grown during the kharif season – continue to be less than last year, mainly due to delayed onset of rains and also on account of shift towards the more lucrative maize.
Data showed that till Friday, paddy has been planted in around 22.35 million hectares, which is around 12.5 per cent less than the area covered during the same period last year and 16.2 per cent less than the average sowing during the same period in the last five years.
West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, and Odisha have seen a decline in paddy sowing. Sowing of pulses and coarse cereals has gone up, from a shortfall of 18 per cent in the previous week to 7.55 per cent during the week ending August 2, compared to the same period last year.
