Farmers in the country have sown urad across 3.7 mln ha this kharif season. In Madhya Pradesh, the largest grower of urad, the acreage was down 16.7% on year at 1.49 mln ha as farmers shifted to paddy and soybean as returns looked lucrative. For 2018-19 (Jul-Jun), the government has increased the minimum support price for paddy by up to 13% and for urad by 3.7%. Last year, many farmers opted for urad instead of soybean due to scattered rains and low realisations from the latter, which resulted in a jump in urad acreage.