Kharif Crops, Barring Rice And Soyabean Area Coveres - Aug 19 , 2008

New Delhi: Area covered under all major kharif crops, barring rice and soyabean, remain to lag behind last year's levels, notwithstanding a revival of the south-west monsoon since the last week of July. The Agriculture Ministry's latest data on sowing progress, released here on Aug 18, shows total area covered under coarse cereals so far this year at 171.1 lakh hectares (lh), which is below last year's corresponding 194.1 lh. Planting of pulses, too, are lower (89.8 lh versus 105.7 lh), which includes arhar (from 33.8 to 29.5), urad (from 23.2 to 18.6) and moong (29.3 to 21.9). In the case of oilseeds, the overall progressive acreage has declined slightly from 164.5 lh to 163.9 lh, with groundnut declining (50 to 48.1) and soybean gaining (86 to 92.8).