Kharif sowing till July 9 down 10.45% over last year, water levels high

Area under rice (-8.9%), soybean (-11.05%), bajra (-37.83%) and cotton (-17.51%) sees maximum shortfall

The southwest monsoon had entered into a weak phase mid-June, before showing some signs of revival the past few days. The weakening of rains had impacted the sowing of crops in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, as per Centre's assessment. While crop coverage was lower in Southern Peninsular India, Bihar and Jharkhand had excess soil moisture. During the week ended July 09, area sown under rice (-8.9 per cent), soybean (-11.05 per cent), bajra (-37.83 per cent) and cotton (-17.51 per cent) has seen maximum shortfall as compared to the same period last year. However, when compared to the normal area (which is the average of the last five years), area covered under most crops except coarse cereals is either more till July 09, 2021 or only marginally less. One heartening factor is that due to good pre-monsoon rains, water level in the 130 reservoirs monitored by the Centre is 93 per cent of the live storage in the same period last year and 126 per cent of average storage of the last 10 years.