New Delhi, Sept. 8 -- The area under rice cultivation during the current kharif season has declined by 16.37 lakh hectares compared with the corresponding period last year, while pulses have recorded a modest increase in acreage, according to the latest crop coverage data.
Rice has been sown across around 421.82 lakh hectares, compared with 438.19 lakh hectares during the same period last year, marking a decline of nearly 3.7%. The sharpest reductions in rice coverage have been reported from Karnataka (4.28 lakh hectares), Telangana (3.61 lakh hectares), Uttar Pradesh (1.84 lakh hectares), Andhra Pradesh (1.91 lakh hectares) and Madhya Pradesh (1.75 lakh hectares).
Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Maharashtra have also reported declines of 1.32 ...