Kharif sowing expands amid skewed rainfall
Farmers grow a range of summer crops, such as paddy, pulsers, coarse cereals, oilseeds and sugarcane, during the season, which account for slightly more than half of the country’s food supply.
The area under kharif, or summer-sown, crops is expanding rapidly in major food-bowl regions following sufficient July rainfall in several states, which will potentially cap prices if harvests are plentiful. However, some states have received lower-than-normal rains so far.
After a weak phase in June, the rains picked up in July, helping to make up for a sowing lag in the previous month. As on July 15, the total area under kharif crops stood at 57.5 million hectares compared to 51.2 million hectares, an increase of 11%, data from the agriculture ministry showed.
The monsoon is critical to Asia’s third-largest economy as slightly less than half of the country’s net sown area does not have irrigation. The farm sector accounts for the livelihoods of more than three-fifths of the population and slightly less than one-fifth of the country’s gross domestic product.
Cultivators have sown 11.5 million hectares under summer staple paddy, an increase of nearly 21% compared to the same period a year ago.
The monsoon covered the entire country on July 2, six days ahead of schedule. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted rainfall to be above-normal during the June-September season this year, bolstering hopes of robust harvests.
Farmers grow a range of summer crops, such as paddy, pulsers, coarse cereals, oilseeds and sugarcane, during the season, which account for slightly more than half of the country’s food supply.
To be sure, monsoon has been uneven and, as on July 15, was deficient by 2% since its onset. According to an IMD analysis, the rain-bearing system has been active over Konkan and Goa, parts of Maharashtra, such as Marathwada and Vidarbha, Telangana, coastal Karnataka, north interior Karnataka and Kerala. It has been subdued over Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu Kashmir, Ladakh and west Rajasthan.
The total area under pulses has edged up by nearly 40% at 6.2 million hectares, compared to 4.9 million hectares in the year-ago period. The country doesn’t produce enough pulses and relies on imports to meet domestic demand.
The acreage for coarse cereals stood at 9.7 million hectares, against 10.4 million hectares on-year. Farmers had sown 14 million hectares under oilseeds, another key group of items India imports to meet total demand. During this period a year ago, the area stood at 11 million hectares, a jump of 27%.
“If rainfall continues to be excess in some pockets and low in others, then it might impact productivity of crops. But it is early days still,” said Avishekh Agrawal, an analyst with Comtrade.
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