Kharif sowing slumps 23% amid delayed monsoon, paddy acreage falls sharply

Paddy, pulses, oilseeds, coarse cereals and cotton have all recorded lower acreage compared with the same period last year due to a delayed monsoon

Sowing of kharif crops including paddy is lagging significantly in the country, with total acreage at 18.272 million hectares as of June, down 23 per cent compared to 23.646 million hectares a year earlier, amid delayed onset and sluggish progress of the southwest monsoon, according to agriculture ministry data.

Not only rice but also pulses, oilseeds, coarse cereals and cotton have seen lower sowing than the year-ago period.

Sowing of kharif crops normally begins with the onset of southwest monsoon from June.

According to the latest data, paddy acreage -- the main kharif crop -- was down 25.17 per cent at 2.575 million hectares as on June 25, against 3.441 million hectares last year.

 

Pulses sowing lagged by 30.47 per cent at 1.492 million hectares versus 2.146 million hectares, while oilseeds area plunged 53.33 per cent to 1.699 million hectares from 3.641 million hectares.

Among pulses, tur/arhar sowing stood at 356,000 hectares against 845,000 hectares.

In oilseeds, groundnut area fell to 887,000 hectares from 1.529 million hectares, and soybean to 692,000 hectares from 1.997 million hectares. Coarse cereals acreage declined to 3.184 million hectare from 3.607 million hectare. 

Cotton sowing dropped 34.61 per cent to 2.966 million hectares from 4.536 million hectares in the said period.

However, sugarcane area saw a marginal increase to 5.731 million hectares from 5.664 million hectares, while jute and mesta acreage was also slightly higher at 625,000 hectares compared to 613,000 hectares.

The southwest monsoon, critical for kharif sowing, has been 42 per cent below normal as of June 24, with central India facing a 59 per cent deficit, East and Northeast India 41 per cent, South Peninsula 28 per cent, and Northwest India 22 per cent, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

El Nino conditions are currently present over the equatorial Pacific Ocean and are expected to strengthen further during the June-September monsoon season.

Reservoir levels also remain a concern. The total live storage in 166 important reservoirs monitored by the Central Water Commission (CWC) as on June 25 stood at 48.405 billion cubic metres (BCM), or 26.37 per cent of full reservoir level (FRL) capacity.

This is 73.21 per cent of last year's storage and 105.67 per cent of the normal level. Out of 166 reservoirs, 111 reported more than 80 per cent of normal storage, while 55 were at 80 per cent or below, with 29 of those at 50 per cent or less of normal storage.