Farmers sow more pulses than paddy

A late surge of monsoon could not improve paddy  sowing, but it has spurred the Indian farmer to work on the advise of agricultural experts. As a result, sown areas for coarse grains such as jowar, maize and bajra have gone up along with pulses, while the areas for paddy and oilseeds have gone down.

Latest reports by the agriculture ministry show that the area under coarse grains has gone up from last year’s 191.40 lakh hectare to 204. 33 lakh hectare this year. The soaring prices of pulses also seem to have spurred farmers to put their faith in pulses which are considered investment-intensive but low yield. The total area under pulses has gone up five lakh hectare from last year — from 92.80 lakh hectare to 97. 75 lakh hectare.

The slow start to the monsoon has, however, ensured that paddy sowing remained down although officials in the agricultural ministry say that the sowing pattern is not as bad as envisaged in July. The total sown area this year is 315.42 lakh hectare, the area at this time last year was 376. 51 lakh hectare. “However it is not as bad as anticipated due to the late monsoon,” said an agriculture ministry official.