Kharif sowing: Farmers hope monsoon will help make up for lockdown losses

The final of a two-part series looks at how farmers are hoping a good monsoon will help make up for lockdown disruptions and losses

After facing the lockdown, farmers in Maharashtra started sowing their kharif crop early to take advantage of a fast approaching monsoon.

Kharif sowing usually begins here around June 15, nearly a week after the monsoon sets in by around June 10.  

However, this year farmers prepared their fields in advance for sowing the short duration crop in the hope that good rainfall would yield a good harvest.

This decision to sow early, at least in some parts of Maharashtra,  particularly in the soybean growing belts of Vidarbha, has led to germination failure that is being blamed on seed quality.

Farmers are still hopeful, though,