Sowing of kharif crops down from last year but revival likely soon

Sowing of kharif crops continued to be below last year’s level and also lower than the average acreage of last five years because of delayed onset and progress of the southwest monsoon over central, northern and western parts of the country.

However, experts said sowing will pick up in July and August as the rains are expected to revive and cover the entire country.

The impact of delayed sowing on final harvest will only be known once the monsoon settles in and the crop reaches maturity stage.

Till Friday (June 28), kharif crops, as per government data, were sown in around 14.66 million hectares, which was 9.53 per cent less than the area sown during the same period last year. 

It was 25.45 per cent less than the average acreage of the corresponding period in the last five years.

Among major crops, acreage under pulses till June 28 was 61.39 per cent less than the same period last year while that under coarse cereals was 10.69 per cent less than the same period last year.

Both pulses and coarse cereals are crops which are sown late and can survive some amount of moisture stress.

Cotton acreage till June 28 was 15.90 per cent less than the same period last year.

The southwest monsoon that was delayed by more than a week and entered into a prolonged lull phase due to cyclone, ‘Vayu’ has revived in several parts of western and Central India. It made steady progress to cover the entire country in the last few days.

Meanwhile, water levels in 91 major reservoirs continued to fall due to delayed rains.

During the week ending June 27, it was 26.3 billion cubic metres which was 11.7 per cent lower than the same period last year.