Monsoon-Sown Crop Area in India Drops 12% Amid Delayed Rains
Rice fields on the outskirts of Srinagar, on June 16.
Photographer: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP/Getty Images
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Indian farmers have planted monsoon crops such as rice, cotton and soybeans on 61.19 million hectares (151 million acres) of land as of July 16, a decline of 12% from a year earlier, according to the farm ministry.
Area under sugarcane has risen almost 1.7% to 5.37 million hectares so far this year, while cotton has been planted in 9.84 million hectares, down 13% from a year earlier, the ministry said late Friday.