Kharif sowing lags behind on deficient rainfall

Hit by a below-normal monsoon, sowing of crops in the ongoing kharif season is lagging well behind last year's corresponding data, raising concerns it could affect farm output and productivity.

Data released by the agriculture ministry on Monday show that sowing of various kharif crops has been completed on 18.24 million hectares as of July 5, less than half of the corresponding area of over 40 million hectares sown last year. Paddy, which is milled to produce rice, has been sown on 4.5 million hectares, down 35 per cent from 6.9 million hectares last year.

Pulses, another important kharif crop, have been sown on 750,000 hectares, down 59 per cent from 1.83 million hectares in the corresponding period last year. Oilseeds have been sown only on 1.44 million hectares compared with 11 million hectares last year. Cotton acreage is down from 8.17 million hectares to 3.54 million hectares.

According to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), rainfall across the country between June 1 and July 6 was 43 per cent less than normal. The states that have been hit the most are Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telengana as well as western Uttar Pradesh where the deficit is more than 60 per cent. Accordingly, sowing of pulses, cotton and oilseeds has taken a hit.

The ideal sowing window will close around July 15, implying that crops sown after that will not have the best yield. J.S. Sandhu, Agriculture Commissioner in the Ministry of Agriculture, told Business Today last week that the choice of crops will become narrow if sowing is not done by mid-July. He said that only some pulses, maize and a few fodder crops can be sown in the period between July 15 and July 30.

The monsoon arrived on June 6 this year, according to the IMD. The onset of the southwest monsoon in Kerala signals the arrival of monsoon over the Indian subcontinent. The normal date for the onset of monsoon is June 1, which was also the date it arrived last year. The IMD has scaled down its monsoon forecast to 93 per cent of the 50-year average from 95 per cent in April.