New Delhi, July 8 -- The kharif-sown area this monsoon season has fallen significantly below last year's level, covering 35.08 million hectares, which is 9.2 million hectares less than a year earlier, Union agriculture and farmers' welfare minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Wednesday.

The over 20% shortfall is primarily due to the delayed onset of the southwest monsoon, which affected the sowing of soybean and cotton, the minister told the media after a high-level review meeting. To mitigate the impact, farmers have been advised to shift to short-duration and low water-intensive crops such as maize, bajra and moong.

A weak monsoon may cut paddy acreage, Mint reported on 4 July. However, Chouhan expressed optimism, noting that the ov...