Due to heavy rains planting of crops in India is accelerating

[caption id="attachment_4821" align="aligncenter" width="1014"] File Photo[/caption] Indian farmers have planted rice seedlings in 12 million hectares of land along with summer-sown paddy. Data from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that due to heavy rains this year, the area under cultivation has increased by 25% over last year. Buoyed by the plentiful rains, paddy farmers are likely to harvest a record crop and step up overseas sales from the world’s biggest exporter of the grain. Farmers start planting paddy, corn, cotton, soybeans, sugarcane and peanuts among other crops from June 1, when monsoon rains reach India. Nearly half of India’s farmland lacks irrigation and planting usually lasts through July. The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare issued preliminary figures for planting from June 1-July 10, which are subject to revision as it gathers more information from state governments. The area planted with cotton was at 10.5 million hectares, up from 7.8 million hectares at the same time last year. Sowing of oilseeds was at 13.9 million hectares, compared with 7.5 million hectares at the same time in 2019. Planting of pulses touched 6.4 million hectares, sharply higher than 2.4 million hectares in the previous year. Find more... Source: Online/SZK