Summer crops are planted during March-May, the intervening period between Rabi (Summer) and Kharif (Winter) season, which starts with the monsoon (Rain) in June.
The India Meteorological Department has predicted a normal monsoon for this year.
“The government is encouraging farmers to cultivate summer crops where irrigation facilities are available. This will help raise production of pulses and oilseeds by planting across additional areas,” said the official.
The summer planting area in Gujarat is now near completion, and the total area under cultivation has increased by nine percent compared to last year. In particular, the area under onion has increased significantly by 20 percent and that of guar gum by 4 percent. Farmers planted on the back of high prices of both the crops, though onion markets are currently low.
According to the latest figures from the Gujarat government, till April 15, a total of 1,109 million hectares were sown in the state as against 1,016 million hectares last year. Thus it has increased by nine percent. Sesame cultivation increased by 10 percent to 107 million hectares and groundnut by 4 percent to over 60,000 hectares.
The sowing area under oilseeds has been reported at 1,018 mh, higher from 0,985 mh in the year-ago period. The acreage in West Bengal is 0,287 mh, 0,137 mh in Maharashtra , 0,164 mh in Gujarat, 0,104 mh in Uttar Pradesh, 0,101 mh in Karnataka, 0,53 mh in Telangana, 0,52 mh in Tamil Nadu, 0,44 mh in Odisha, 0,33 mh in Chhattisgarh and 0,29 mh in Andhra Pradesh.
The cultivation of pulses in the state has increased by 43% of urad dal and 20% of mung beans. In the summer, cultivation of millet, the largest crop, has increased by four percent.
The country’s summer crops’ acreage, planted between rabi and Kharif seasons, is up 3 percent at 6,012 million hectares (mh) as of April 18, as against 5,832 million hectares in the year-ago period, thanks to over 37 percent jump in sowing areas under pulses. While coarse cereals and oilseeds acreage is marginally higher, there has been a drop in summer paddy area since the beginning of the season. Higher acreage will help the government to achieve Kharif foodgrains production target for 2022-23.
The summer pulses sowing reached 1,221 million hectares against 0,89 million hectares in the corresponding period last year. The government has been focusing on summer pulses to supplement the Kharif production.
The summer moong area is reported at 0,862 mh as against 0,673 mh year-ago while that of urad nearly doubled to 0,322 mh from 0,186 mh. The total pulses area has reached at 0,261 mh in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh 0,252 mh, Tamil Nadu 0,194 mh, Uttar Pradesh 0,122 mh, Gujarat 0,93 mh, West Bengal 0,81 mh, Bihar 0,76 mh, Chhattisgarh 0,35 mh, Maharashtra 0,16 mh and Karnataka 0,10 mh.
The summer-sown coarse cereals acreage is higher at 0,922 mh from 0,919 mh. Among the coarse cereals, the area under maize is lower at 0,543 mh from 0,601 mh in the year-ago period.
Source-Agriculture ministry and business line
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