Uptick in monsoon rain boosts kharif sowing
South-west monsoon boost summer crop planting in India, critical for food supply & price control. Sowing up 14% from last year, with pulses area up 50%.
A pickup in the south-west monsoon in July so far, after a patchy start last month, has boosted planting of a range of summer crops, which account for nearly half of the country’s annual food supply. Robust harvests this year are critical to keep a lid on rising prices.
The area sown under kharif crops stood at 37.8 million hectares on Monday, up 14% compared to the corresponding day a year ago, data from the agriculture ministry show. The sowing figures showed rapid expansion of key crops, such as rice, pulses, sugarcane and oilseeds.
Millions of farmers depend on the summer monsoon to plant a range of crops, including rice, sugarcane, cotton, pulses, soybean and maize. Good harvests are key to rural incomes, which create demand in the overall economy.
The area under pulses, whose prices have been elevated due to short supply, has jumped by over 50% at 3.6 million hectares, compared to 2.3 million hectares in the same period a year ago. Pulses are mostly grown in rain-dependent farm belts.
Farmers have planted paddy, the summer staple, in 5.9 million hectares against 5 million hectares a year ago.
The June-September monsoon, critical for the world’s fifth-largest economy, was a fifth below normal in June, but torrential rains in many parts of the country have bridged the gap. The monsoon was 2% surplus till July 8, according to the India Meteorological Bureau.
India has banned the export of wheat and white rice, barred shipments of basmati rice below a price threshold, imposed a 40% duty on outbound shipments of onion and removed tariffs on import of pulses to tame high food prices.
The sowing of coarse cereals, however, lagged last year’s level by this time of the year at 5.8 million hectares, compared to 8.2 million hectares. The area under sugarcane, another critical commercial crop, was marginally higher than last year at 5.6 million hectares.
Farmers have planted nearly 8 million hectares under oilseeds, compared to 5 million hectares in the corresponding period last year.
Adequate sowing and ample rains are critical for robust harvests to cool food prices, which have been elevated. Two years of extreme weather and a poor monsoon have trimmed output of pulses, onion and wheat. High food inflation, which rose 8.7% in May, has kept retail price rise above the central bank’s target, preventing a cut in key interest rates.
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