Area of summer crops expands by 21.58% from last year

May 10, 2021

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare recently announced that the area of summer crops has sharply increased by 21.58% as compared to 2020. The increase has almost doubled. Summer crops are also called Zaid crops. They are grown between March and June.

Expansion of area of Summer Crops

The area under summer crops has increased to 12.75 hectares in 2021. It was 6.45 hectares in 2020.
The increase has been mainly reported in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Karnataka, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Gujarat.
The Government of India has been promoting the summer crops mainly to increase the pulse production in the country.

Which crops have increased?

The area under rice cultivation has increased by 15.59%. In 2020, it was 33.82 hectares. Now it has increased in 39.10 hectares. The area under pulses has increased by 97.58%. It was 6.45 hectares in 2020 and has now increased to 12.74 hectares in 2021.

Oil seeds has increased by 15.66%. Area under coarse grains have increased by 0.93%.

Water Storage

The Ministry also announced that the water storage in more than 130 key reservoirs has increased by 20% as compared to that of the average storage in the last ten years. Due to this more areas have come under cultivation in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Karnataka. This is one of the main reasons for the increase in areas under summer cultivation.

Oil Seeds

GoI is also focusing to increase the production of oil seeds in the country apart from pulses. Currently, India imports 75% of edible oil to meet its domestic requirements. The import bill has crossed Rs 70,000 crores.