Slow progress of monsoon causing delay in sowing of oilseeds: SEA

The slow progress of monsoon has begun to worry all quarters, as the deficit between actual and normal rainfall has narrowed only slightly.

However, the India Meteorological Department expects the monsoon to revive in the next few days, which would help it cover the entire country by the middle of July. On Thursday, the Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) in a letter to its members said that the slow monsoon was causing a delay in the sowing of oilseeds in the ongoing kharif season, which might impact production.

Area sown to oilseeds remained low at 0.41 million hectares till last week, as against 0.48 million hectares in the year-ago period, it said. “The onset of monsoon in Kerala is delayed by a week and also the slow advancement of monsoon is leading to a delay in sowing in most of the states,” SEA President Ajay Jhunjhunwala said in the letter.