Country to witness bumper kharif crop

Sowing in the year 2008 is so far the highest, according to the ministry.
This year, major crops like rice and pulses have been sown in 1,021.92 lakh hectare, way ahead of the 2008 figure of 13 lakh hectare.  The 2010 sowing also surpasses last year’s 957.58 lakh hectare acreage by 64.34 lakh hectare.

The sowing of all major crops this year was more than that of last year’s Kharif, the officials said. Rice has been sown in about 352.80 lakh hectare, as against last year’s 331.42 lakh hectare. “This year’s rice sowing so far 21.38 lakh hectare more than the corresponding figure of last year and 28.74 lakh hectare less than that of 2008,” said the agriculture ministry data.

Also, in pulses, the total area covered was 115.93 lakh hectare as compared to last year’s 97.66 lakh hectare.  The pulse sowing was 18.27 hectare more than in 2009 and 11.7 lakh hectare more than in 2008, the release said.

Jowar has been sown in 30.55 lakh hectare as compared to last year’s coverage of 30.93 lakh hectare and 86.38 lakh hectare of bajra has been sown as against last year’s 85.18 lakh hectare.