Team News Riveting
New Delhi, August 21
The novel Covid-19 had failed to make impact on the crop sowing that not only achieved the target but jumped even surpassed it.
According to agriculture ministry data, total kharif crops has been sown on 1062.93 lakh hectare of area against 979.15 lakh hectare area covered during the corresponding period of last year.
The figure available as on August 21, underlined an increase in area coverage by 8.56 per cent compared to corresponding period of the previous year. The cultivation of rice would jump by about 12 per cent as sowing had been completed in 378.32 lakh hectare against previous year’s 338.65 lakh hectare.
Similarly, pulses had been sowed in 132.56 lakh hectare of area against 124.15 lakh hectare area during the corresponding period of last year that shows an increase in area coverage by 6.77 per cent.
Though powered by good monsoon, the progress in sowing had proved that the rural economy would have least impact of COVID-19. The actual rainfall received in the country is 663.0 mm against normal of 628.3 mm, about six per cent higher.
As reported by Central Water Commission, the live water storage available in 123 reservoirs in the country is 90 per cent of live storage of corresponding period of last year and 107 per cent of storage of average of last ten years.
The achievement comes when India was set for one of its worst economic contractions since independence. An unlikely silver lining is taking shape. India’s beleaguered agricultural sector, which employs about 60 per cent of its workforce and contributes about 16 per cent to its economic output, is set for its best performance in recent years.
