Started with a whimper, ended with a bang

The southwest monsoon season, crucial for agricultural production, came to an end in the last week of September, with the country receiving almost two per cent above normal rainfall.

The rains arrived in the country on May 29, about three days ahead of its scheduled arrival, and started vigorously, reaching all key regions almost at the right time.

But after a while, the intensity was lost. Then three was almost 24 per cent below normal rains till the middle of July.

The rains regained momentum and peaked during the second half of August and early September, making the last of the four-month monsoon season one of the wettest in recent times.

The slowdown in monsoon rains till the middle of July had a debilitating impact on the sowing of coarse cereals and pulses. The period, especially from June 20 to July 10, is considered optimum for sowing of kharif pulses and coarse cereals.

But Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, where pulses are grown during the kharif season, received weak rain during this period. This is expected to pull down the total production of kharif pulses by around 700,000 tonnes to 6.43 million tonnes as compared to last year.

Pulses are a critical component of India’s food basket and any significant drop in output could jeopardise the government’s plan to reduce dependence on imports.

Production of coarse cereals was also expected to drop by six per cent to 30.42 million tonnes, the agriculture ministry said in its first advance estimate of farm production for this year’s kharif season.

The agriculture ministry allocated an additional Rs 80 crore to states to bring almost one million hectares more under pulses during the ensuing rabi sowing season.

The move could have the desired impact, as soil moisture in most parts of the country is good, following the burst in showers during the subsequent part of the monsoon season.

In September alone, monsoon rains have been almost 10 per cent above normal.

The good rains also had a positive impact on water storage levels in 81 major reservoirs across the country. Of the 81 reservoirs, 75 had water equivalent to 80 per cent of normal storage, while water in only six was less than 80 per cent.

This, farm experts believe, should provide adequate water for irrigation purposes in the rabi sowing season.

Overall, production of grain, cotton, soyabean, and sugarcane are expected to be at record highs, as the rains were evenly spread, with gaps of just about four-five days (except from June 20 to July 10).