Sowing of main cash crops namely sugarcane, cotton, pulses and groundnut continued to be down from last year even as kharif sowing entered the fag end. According to an official statement, sugarcane has been sown in around 44.1 lakh hectare till August 17, down from 53 lakh hectare last year. Cotton, the lifeline of millions of farmers in Maharashtra and Gujarat, has been sown in around 85.9 lakh hectare, down from 90.7 lakh hectares last year. Pulses were sown in around 89.8-lakh hectare till August 17, down from 90.7 lakh hectare last year.
Similarly, groundnut sowing also declined to 48.1 lakh hectare till last week, from 50-lakh hectare in the same period last year.
However, paddy, the largest foodgrain grown during the kharif season, was sown in around 282.1 lakh hectare till August 17, up from 256.4 lakh hectare last year. Soybean, a major oilseed grown during the kharif was sown in around 92.8 lakh hectare, down from 86 lakh hectare from last year.