Paddy sowing deficit narrows to 4.52%; southwest monsoon may remain strong

The southwest monsoon is expected to remain strong over central and northern parts of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand for two days due to a well-marked low pressure area that will cause heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in several places, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its latest weather report on Friday. 

The rains might provide respite to city dwellers from extended periods of low rains this monsoon but could be negative for the early-sown crops. So far in the season (June 1 to September 16), the cumulative monsoon has been largely deficient in 19 of the 703 districts of the country. Of these, 13 lie in UP alone.

On the sowing front, meanwhile, data from the agriculture ministry showed that till September 16 kharif sowing had been completed in around 109.29 million hectares, which is marginally less than the same period last year. Paddy continued to remain the biggest of all crops that witnessed a drop in acreage with very little chance of any big improvement.

The Centre expects rice production in the kharif season to drop by 4-5 million tonnes from last year. India last year produced around 111.7 million tonnes of rice in the kharif season.