India's summer crops sowing marginally lower at 70.3 lakh hectare

New Delhi [India], May 26 : The area under coverage for summer crops in India is marginally down at 70.30 lakh hectares, according to the latest data released by the agriculture ministry. During the same period in 2022, it was at 71.99 lakh hectares.
The ministry's data showed that the sowing area under pulses and coarse cereals is higher year-on-year, while the acreage of rice and oilseeds is lower.
Coming to pulses and coarse cereals, the area increased from 19.09 lakh hectares to 19.81 lakh hectares, and 11.56 lakh hectares to 12.01 lakh hectares, data showed.
For rice and oilseeds, they declined from 30.33 lakh hectares to 28.30 lakh hectares and from 11.02 lakh hectares to 10.17 lakh hectares.
Green gram, jowar, bajra, ragi, maize, groundnut, sunflower, and sesamum are some of the major summer crops.
India has three cropping seasons -- summer, kharif, and rabi.
Crops that are sown during October and November and the produce harvested from January-March depending on maturity is Rabi. Crops sown during June-July and harvested in October-November are kharif. Crops produced between rabi and kharif are summer crops.
Meanwhile, third advance estimates of production of major crops for the agricultural year 2022-23 released by the agriculture ministry on Thursday pegged total foodgrain production in the country at a record 330.5 million tonnes, which is higher by about 15 million tonnes as compared to the previous year 2021-22.
The government said its strategy would be to increase crop area through inter-cropping, crop diversification, and productivity enhancement by introducing higher-yield seeds and adopting suitable agronomic practices in low-yielding regions.