New Delhi- As of July 15, the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare has reported substantial progress in the sowing of kharif crops, with the total area sown surpassing 575 lakh hectares.

This marks a significant increase compared to the corresponding period of last year, reflecting the efforts and resilience of the agricultural sector.

Pulses Cultivation Sees Major Growth

The area under pulses cultivation has expanded considerably, reaching approximately 62.32 lakh hectares, up from 49.50 lakh hectares in the same period last year. The breakdown of pulses cultivation is as follows:

• Arhar (Tur) beans: 28.14 lakh hectares, a remarkable increase from 9.66 lakh hectares.

• Urdbean (Black gram): 13.90 lakh hectares, up from 12.75 lakh hectares.

• Moongbean (Green gram): 15.79 lakh hectares, a slight decrease from 19.57 lakh hectares.

• Kulthi (Horse gram): Steady at 0.12 lakh hectares.

• Other pulses: 4.37 lakh hectares, down from 7.40 lakh hectares.

Oilseeds Cultivation Reaches New Heights

The area under oilseeds cultivation has also seen a notable rise, with 140.43 lakh hectares sown compared to 115.08 lakh hectares last year. The detailed statistics are as follows:

• Groundnut: 28.20 lakh hectares, nearly unchanged from 28.27 lakh hectares.

• Soybean: 108.10 lakh hectares, up significantly from 82.44 lakh hectares.

• Sunflower: 0.51 lakh hectares, up from 0.34 lakh hectares.

• Sesamum (Sesame): 3.21 lakh hectares, a slight decrease from 3.59 lakh hectares.

• Niger: 0.20 lakh hectares, a notable increase from 0.02 lakh hectares.

• Castor: 0.16 lakh hectares, down from 0.39 lakh hectares.

• Other oilseeds: 0.05 lakh hectares, a marginal increase from 0.04 lakh hectares.

Other Crops: The area under Shree Anna & Coarse Cereals stands at 97.64 lakh hectares, slightly down from 104.99 lakh hectares last year. Maize cultivation, however, has increased to 58.86 lakh hectares from 43.84 lakh hectares.