New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI) Area planted to rice rose 17.33 per cent to 220.24 lakh hectare so far in the kharif season of the 2020-21 crop year (July-June) from 187.70 lakh hectare in the year-ago period, the agriculture ministry said on Friday.

Rice is the main kharif (summer) crop. Sowing of kharif crops begins with the onset of southwest monsoon from June, while harvesting starts from October onwards.

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"Government of India is taking several measures to facilitate the farmers and farming activities at field level during COVID-19 pandemic. There has been satisfactory progress of sowing area coverage under kharif crops," the ministry said in a statement.

Of the total rice area covered so far, higher planting area was reported from Uttar Pradesh where farmers have sown rice in 6.50 lakh hectare, followed by Jharkhand (6.10 lakh hectare), Madhya Pradesh (5.98 lakh hectare), Bihar (5.66 lakh hectare), Chhattisgarh (3.57 lakh hectare), West Bengal (2.80 lakh hectare) and Telangana (2.50 lakh hectare).

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Besides rice, pulses planting has gone up significantly. Total area covered under various kharif pulses increased 25.74 per cent to 99.71 lakh hectare area so far this kharif season as against 79.30 lakh hectare in the year-ago period.

Similarly, area sown to coarse cereals has increased by 14 per cent to 137.13 lakh hectare area so far in this kharif season compared to 120.30 lakh hectare a year ago.

Oilseeds coverage has increased by 24.56 per cent to 166.36 lakh hectare from 133.56 lakh hectare in the said period.

Among cash crops, area sown to sugarcane increased to 51.54 lakh hectare so far this kharif season as compared to 51.02 lakh hectare during the corresponding period of last year.

Cotton planting increased by 22.50 per cent to 118.03 lakh hectare area so far this season as compared to 96.35 lakh hectare during the corresponding period of last year.

Area sown to jute and mesta increased marginally to 6.94 lakh hectare area from compared to 6.84 lakh hectare in the said period.

Total area coverage under all kharif crops increased 18.50 per cent to 799.95 lakh hectare so far this kharif season from 675.07 lakh hectare in the year-ago period.

The Central Water Commission (CWC) has reported that the live water storage in 123 reservoirs in different parts of the country was 155 per cent of the corresponding period of the last year, the ministry added.

(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)