New Delhi, Jan 27 (PTI) The agriculture ministry on Thursday projected coverage of zaid (summer) crops, excluding rice, in 52.72 lakh hectares during the March-May 2021 period, with the maximum area to come from Gujarat and West Bengal.

Zaid crops, also called grishma kal, are sown between March-May, the intervening period between rabi (winter) harvest and kharif (monsoon) sowing.

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Addressing a virtual national conference, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said summer crops not only provide extra income but also create employment opportunities in between rabi and kharif for the farmers, thereby increasing the crop intensity.

The government has taken new initiatives through various programmes for the cultivation of summer crops, such as pulses, coarse cereals, nutricereals and oilseeds, he said.

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"Though more than half of cultivated area in summer season is under pulses, oilseeds and nutricereals, the farmers with irrigation source are growing rice and vegetables during the summer season," an official statement quoted Tomar having said in the conference.

He highlighted that the area under cultivation of zaid crops, including rice, has increased progressively 2.7 times from 29.71 lakh hectares in 2017-18 to 80.46 lakh hectares in 2020-21.

Out of the total 52.2 lakh hectares to be planted during the zaid season this year, a maximum of 8.27 lakh hectares is to be covered in Gujarat, followed by 6.53 lakh hectares in West Bengal, 6.18 lakh hectares in Uttar Pradesh, 6.08 lakh hectares in Bihar, 5.62 lakh hectares in Madhya Pradesh and 4.41 lakh hectares in Odisha.

Pulses will be covered in 21.05 lakh hectares, oilseeds in 13.78 lakh hectares and coarse/ nutricereals in 17.89 lakh hectares during the zaid season.

Some states grow summer rice in an area of about 20-30 lakh hectares in an overlapping season, the ministry said.

In the conference, the minister assured full support to ensure the supply of critical inputs and facilitate the adoption of innovative technologies with a view to enhancing production and productivity of the crops.

The priority of the government is to increase production of oilseeds and pulses where large imports are required, he said.

Speaking on the new varieties developed by agri-research body ICAR, Tomar said states should use new varieties of seeds for better production of summer crops.

The minister also asked states to plan in advance for their fertiliser needs and provide estimates to the Center so that the fertiliser department can provide it timely. He also suggested that states should increase the use of NPK fertilisers and liquid urea and reduce the dependence on diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilisers.

Regarding training to the farmers, the Union agriculture minister asked the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) and the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) to jointly conduct the essential training for small and marginal farmers so that new technology and knowledge reach the grassroots level.

Minister of State of Agriculture Kailash Choudhary advised states to send proposals to certify the entire block or area as organic/natural farming block so that farmers who belong to that area need not apply for the certificate individually. He also asked states to provide a market for organic farmers.

During the conference, a working manual on the Indian Seed Certification was released. HRS hrs

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)