Gross Cropped Area and Net Cropped Area in India

• India’s total geographical area is 329 million hectares. Out of this, 195 million hectare is gross cropped area and 141 million hectare is net sown area. On the other hand, net irrigated area is only 65.3 million hectares. Rest of the land is rainfed.
• Kindly understand the difference between Gross Cropped Area and Net Sown Area here. Gross Cropped Area (GCA) is the total area sown once as well as more than once in a particular year. When the crop is sown on a piece of land for twice, the area is counted twice in GCA. On the other hand, Net Sown Area is the area sown with crops but is counted only once.
• This implies that if we deduct net sown area from gross cropped area; what we find is those areas where crops are cultivated for more than once in a particular agriculture year.