Indian farmers have grown crops on 95.42 million hectares ever since the summer-sowing season began in June, 6.5 percent higher from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday. The progress in planting comes after the monsoon covered the entire country on July 13.
India's weather office predicts the June-September monsoon rains to be above average this year. A good rainfall is crucial for an increase in agricultural output and income, especially after two years of drought, raising the prospect of higher imports and inflation.
India's farming sector is heavily dependent on the monsoon and accounts for about 15 percent of the country's $2 trillion economy. It also employs nearly 60 percent of the country's 1.3 billion people. The following table gives the sown area of the main summer crops as on August 5 against the year-ago period, in millions hectares. All figures are provisional and subject to revision as updates are made with the progress of the monsoon rains.