Bridging the gap: Late rains likely to narrow paddy acreage shortfall

Though kharif sowing is almost over for most crops, the government on Friday was bullish that some more area could come under paddy in states like Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Odisha till the end of this month. This is owing to a good late rainfall.

If transplanting continues for a few more days, it could narrow the shortfall in paddy acreage as compared to last year. As on September 23, the figure stood at 5.53 per cent at 40.15 million hectares.

This acreage was, however, 1.13 per cent more than the normal area in which paddy is planted. Normal