Paddy acreage in current Kharif season 35.46 lakh ha below that last year; total crop acreage less by 18.26 lakh ha

The government has eventually released the figures for paddy sowing acreage for the current Kharif season after the gap of a week.  According to the figures released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on the evening of July 29, the paddy acreage during the current Kharif season lags behind that last year up to the same period by 35.46 lakh hectares. The states where the area under paddy remains lower include Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Telangana. In UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, the rainfall level remains 40-50 per cent below normal.

It is now almost becoming certain that with the month of July about to end, this decline in the area under paddy will lead to a decline in rice production. Even if the acreage improves and it becomes equal to that last year in the next few days, lesser productivity may lead to a decline in production as paddy not being transplanted in time implies a decline in productivity per hectare.

Although the figures for pulses and oilseeds were available on the website of the National Food Security Mission, the government had not released the progressive figures for paddy acreage in the Kharif season officially last week on July 22. Owing to this, it is the figures for 15 July 2022 that are being considered as the basis at every level in the case of rice. One hopes that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will now be able to look at the latest data to estimate inflation.

According to the figures released by the Ministry of Agriculture, the total area under paddy has reached 231.59 lakh hectares up to July 29. Last year the figure stood at 267.05 lakh hectares. That is, the area under paddy lags behind that last year by 35.46 lakh hectares.

The total acreage of crops up to July 29 in the current Kharif season lags behind that last year by 18.26 lakh hectares. It has reached 823.40 lakh hectares so far as compared to 841.66 lakh hectares during the same period last year.

In terms of paddy acreage, the decline is maximum in West Bengal at 10.62 lakh hectares. The paddy acreage lags behind that last year by 6.68 lakh hectares in UP, 5.61 lakh hectares in Bihar, 4.72 lakh hectares in Jharkhand, 2.73 lakh hectares in Chhattisgarh and 4.06 lakh hectares in Telangana. In Odisha, the paddy acreage is 2.60 lakh hectares less than that last year. Apart from these states, the paddy acreage is less than that last year in 10 other states, but the difference is not too high.

However, the total area under pulses is more than that last year. At 106.18 lakh hectares, it is more than the 103.23 lakh hectares during the same period last year by 2.95 lakh hectares. But, among pulses, the area under arhar is less by 5.64 lakh hectares. It has reached 36.11 lakh hectares so far while it stood at 41.75 lakh hectares during the same period last year. The area under urad stands at 28.01 lakh hectares, which is quite close to the 27.94 lakh hectares during the same period last year. The area under moong is greater than that last year by 3.97 lakh hectares. While it stood at 25.29 lakh hectares up to the same time last year, it is 29.26 lakh hectares this year. The acreage for other pulses is 4.63 lakh hectares more than that last year. The major reason for a higher pulses acreage this year is that the area under moong has gone up in Rajasthan by about 10 lakh hectares. On the other hand, the area under pulses in Maharashtra and Karnataka is less than that last year.

The area under Kharif oilseeds stands at 164.34 lakh hectares, which is greater than the 163.03 lakh hectares at the same time last year by 1.31 lakh hectares. At 37.41 lakh hectares, the groundnut acreage is less than that last year by 3.92 lakh hectares. On the other hand, the area under soyabean, sunflower, sesame and castor has gone up.