As the sowing of kharif crops enters its last leg, acreage this year has been almost 8.54 per cent more than last year as of August 14. So far, sowing has been completed in over 95 per cent of the average area, covered under kharif crops in the last five years.
The average area of the last five years is 106.64 million hectares. Acreage under rice, moong, ragi, groundnut, soybean, and nigerseed has seen the maximum increase. The water levels in the reservoirs have also reached comfortable levels due to good rainfall in most parts of India. This should augur well for the coming rabi sowing as well.
For the Indian economy, it might mean good agriculture growth overall, but how much of this will translate into a steady increase in farmers’ income is yet to be seen as the overall demand is projected to remain subdued in the coming months as well.
