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‘Changing monsoon altering crop cycles’

Jul 20, 2024 05:02 AM IST

Poor rains and blistering temperatures during the month, patterns said to be linked to climate crisis, have slowed the pace of kharif sowing, especially of rice

NEW DELHI: June, the first of the four-month monsoon season, is becoming drier and hotter, delaying sowing of kharif or summer crops by two to three weeks and, as a result, pushing winter-planted wheat into periods of heat stress, official data shows.

Farmers plant paddy saplings in a field, near Balurghat in Dakshin Dinajpur district on July 19. (PTI)
Farmers plant paddy saplings in a field, near Balurghat in Dakshin Dinajpur district on July 19. (PTI)

In June this year, farmers were able to plant 2.27 million hectares under paddy, the lowest in a decade, as showers were 11% deficient, according to the data. Rice is one of the most water-guzzling crops, especially in its early stages of growth. Rainfall during the first month of the June-September monsoon period has been spotty for nearly a decade. Since 2008, nine years saw below-normal rains in June, the data shows.

The monsoon’s onset begins in June in Kerala, when farmers typically kick off plantation. Poor rains and blistering temperatures during the month, patterns said to be linked to climate crisis, have slowed the pace of kharif sowing, especially of rice.

Kharif planting has shrunk in the past four years followed by a pick-up in July. This shift has had a domino effect: Harvesting of rice has got delayed. This in turn tends to delay and shorten the time available for sowing the winter staple wheat, exposing the crop to damaging early summer heat waves, when it matures.

The normal area under rice sown for June is nearly 4.5 million hectares. In 2023, the rains were 33% deficient until June 26. The paddy area during that period was 2.66 million hectares, down 569,000 hectares, compared to the same period a year ago.

To be sure, 2023 was an outlier, as the monsoon was impacted by El Nino, a weather pattern whose effects ripple around the globe. In India, it diminishes rainfall.

Yet, an uncertain monsoon during June has made the month dodgy for rice cultivators. In June 2022, rice acreage stood 3.6 million hectares, while the sown area in June 2021 was 5.96 million ha.

“Late monsoon is the new norm in Bihar. As on July 12, total rainfall is less than 80% of the normal in 14 districts. Late monsoon delays paddy transplantation which may lead to late sowing of wheat. Rice-wheat yields and farmers’ profit take a hit,” said Avinash Kishore, senior research fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute, New Delhi.

The rainy season has been witnessing another glitch. When it’s time for the monsoon to wind down at the end of its season, it has often dumped heavy rains, delaying harvesting of paddy and other crops. A spill-over of the monsoon into the third week of October delayed sowing of wheat in 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023 by up to three weeks, official data shows. Wheat is planted in November and harvested in April.

Delays in summer sowing have pushed wheat crops into periods of heat waves, which have become more frequent during early summer. High temperatures around harvesting time can wilt wheat grains, a phenomenon known as terminal heat stress. Hot early summers crimped India’s wheat output in 2022 and 2023, sending federally held stocks to a 16-year low this year, as prices soared.

“Slow start to the monsoon has delayed the kharif crop cycle by two-three weeks,” said Raminder Uppal, a paddy-grower from Sirhind, Punjab. “There is no point sowing even if irrigation is available because the heat is so much that water evaporates quickly.”

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