By: Hemant Kumar ( Agriculture Correspondent-ICN Group)
KANPUR: Despite a sluggish monsoon and farmer unrest in different parts of India, agriculture is gaining momentum, with all crops other than pulses showing an upswing in the sowing area.
According to data released by the Union Ministry of Agriculture on June 23, 2017, there has been a 10% rise in the area under cultivation so far, with sowing completed over 130.74 lakh hectares (ha) in comparison to 119.28 lakh hectare in the corresponding period last year.
There has been a substantial increase of yield when it comes to oilseeds, cotton and sugarcane, in particular, whereas the owing of pulses has taken a major beating likely because of a drastic drop in prices.
There is a slight increase in the area under paddy as well as coarse cereals, as compared to last year. The area under oilseeds recorded a spectacular 55 % increase in yield to 11.24 lakh ha this week from 7.23 lakh hectare in the corresponding period last year, courtesy renewed interest among farmers in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
But the yield is substantially less than the normal level for the corresponding week, which is 13.26 lakh hectare.
Cotton cultivation up but below par
The area under cotton, too, has risen substantially by 30% to 24.70 lakh ha over 19.07 lakh ha in the previous year, with farmers in Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat opting for the cash crop.
The area under cotton, however, is almost 10 lakh ha less than normal for the week.The area under pulses cultivations, on the other hand, fell by a third to 5.97 lakh ha from a high of 9 lakh hectare in 2016.
Punjab and Uttarakhand led the way in pushing the acreage under paddy up by almost 0.75 lakh hectare, from 15.97 lakh hectare (2016) to 16.70 lakh hectare.
