Hopes of monsoon revival likely to bring relief for kharif sowing

Sowing of kharif crops has not got off to a spectacular start this year due to the delayed onset of monsoon over most parts of the country and its tepid progress so far. 

The sluggish start has raised concerns that overall sowing could be delayed for many crops and if it goes beyond the ideal planting time, it might lead to loss of yield. Till this Friday, major kharif crops, barring sugarcane, have been planted on around 4.93 million hectares, marginally more than last year, owing to a jump in bajra acreage. 

The southwest monsoon between June 1 to June 16 is almost 47 per cent less than normal with rains yet to reach several parts of the country, where it should have been in the usual course otherwise. However, the good news is that monsoon is expected to revive in a big way from June 20 onwards and as per the forecast made by senior weathermen, the revival will be due to active weather conditions over the west coast, over the Bay of Bengal and Central India. 

This should augur well for the pick-up in kharif sowing. Water levels in the 146-odd reservoirs monitored across the country-which is also an indicator of the prevailing scenario-showed that water levels in reservoirs as on June 15 were slightly less than the same period last year. However, they were much more than the average storage for the same period of past 10 years.