Paddy sowing in the on-going Kharif season rose by 23 per cent to 14.88 million hectares so far against 12.1 million hectares in the same period last year. The area under oilseed coverage rose marginally to 10.1 million hectares for the week ended July 17 against 9.9 million hectares in the year-ago period. Under oilseeds, soyabean acreage has increased to about 6.5 million hectares against 5.4 million hectares. However, areas under groundnut have declined to 2.69 million hectares , compared with 3.04 million hectares in the same period last year. Increase in areas under pulses remained flat at 4.19 million hectares against 4.18 million hectares a year ago. In sync with expectations, cotton and sugar acreage has taken a hit due to abnormal monsoon in certain areas. Areas under cotton dipped to 5.80 million hectares against 6.9 million hectares in the corresponding period, last year, with major crisis being noticed in Maharashtra due to shortage of rainfall. Similarly, sugarcane acreage declined to 4.31 million hectares , compared with 5.28 million hectares in the year-ago period.