Paddy, pulses, and millet sowing area expands to 108.7 million hectares due to improved monsoon

The agricultural sector is witnessing a significant boost as the sowing area for paddy, pulses, and millet has expanded to 108.7 million hectares, thanks to better monsoon rainfall. This growth reflects the government's successful efforts to enhance farm productivity.

Key Highlights:

Paddy Sowing:

The area sown with paddy has surpassed the normal area of 40.15 million hectares by 1.78%.

Currently, paddy is sown on 40.87 million hectares, marking a 15.15% increase from last year's 39.35 million hectares.

Coarse Cereals:

The sowing area for coarse cereals, or Shree Anna, has expanded to 18.77 million hectares, exceeding the normal area of 18.08 million hectares by 3.8%.

This is a 6.68% increase from last year’s 18.1 million hectares.

Pulses:

The sowing of pulses has grown by 8.47% to 12.51 million hectares, up from 11.66 million hectares last year.

Overall, the total sowing area has increased to 108.7 million hectares from 106.6 million hectares a year earlier, registering an increase of 20.44%.

Economic Implications: This growth in crop cultivation is a promising sign for the agriculture sector, alleviating concerns over food inflation, which has been more persistent than headline inflation in recent months. India's Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) escalated to 8.9% in the June quarter, after averaging 7.5% in FY24. Improved pulse sowing could potentially reduce prices, assuming a good harvest, given their importance as a protein source in Indian diets.

Other Crops:

Tur (arhar): Accounts for 4.57 million hectares.

Oilseeds: The area sown increased modestly to 19.06 million hectares from 18.88 million hectares.

Sugarcane: Cultivation remained stable at 5.76 million hectares, compared to 5.71 million hectares last year.

However, not all crop categories showed positive growth. The area sown with jute and mesta fell to 570,000 hectares from 656,000 hectares, and cotton cultivation declined to 11.17 million hectares from 12.31 million hectares the previous year.

This broad increase across various crop categories is a positive indicator for the agriculture sector and the government's initiatives to boost productivity and meet domestic demand.