The decline in the kharif crop sowing presents grim grim sitaution for economy. The sowing of rice and pulses has declined sharply due to floods and heavy rainfall in several parts of the country.
The Union Agriculture Ministry’s latest data shows that planting of kharif crops sowing area has slipped below last year’s cultivated area of July and August. There has been decline of 20 lakh hectare in rice cultivation and 5 lakh hectare in pulses in the country.
According to National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF), it is estimated that 6-7 lakh hectare under kharif crops have been affected due to flood and incessant rainfall. The final assessment is yet to be made by the inter-State ministerial group. Due to shortage of pulses, prices of arhar, moong and tur have been increased from Rs 50-60 per kg to Rs 100 per kg. Flood has also affected the cultivation of tea this year as most of the tea plantation have been damaged in Karnataka, Kerala and West Bengal. This may impact the prices of tea in the retail market in the coming days.
India has seen large scale floods in several parts of the country this month. States like Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala have been grappling with devastating floods.
The Agriculture Ministry’s data shows that kharif crop planting has covered 975.16 lakh hectare land as compared to 997.67 lakh hectare a year earlier from June up to August 23, a decline of 22.51 lakh hectare so far.
Rice was planted on 334.92 lakh hectares as compared to 355.42 lakh hectare a year earlier, a decline of 23.03 lakh hectare. Bihar, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Assam have reported less is covered under Rice due to flood and rainfalls. In some States, rice cultivation was badly impacted due to flood.
The area of pulse cultivation also dropped from 128.54 lakh hectare last year to 124.56 lakh hectare, a decline of 3.97 lakh hectare so far. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh have reported less cultivation this year. Due to shortage of pulses, the prices is expected to increase further in the coming days. Currently, the rate of Arhar, Moong and Urad have been touched Rs 100 per kg. The area of coarse cereals cultivation is also less by 3.66 lakh hectare this year so far.
A good monsoon is crucial for the country’s economy as farming sector accounts for more than 15% of the country’s GDP but nearly half of the country’s workforce is dependent on the agriculture sector. As many 1500 people died and over 60,000 villages are affected from flood in 14 states. It is estimated that 6 to7 lakh hectate of agriculture land and 5 to 6 crore poultry destroyed in the flood.
With less than 37 days to go in the 2019 monsoon season, most regions across have recorded normal or above normal rainfall till August 23. India recorded surplus rainfall 658.5 mm as against the normal of 652.2 mm so far. Only east and northeast India, especially Jharkhand and Gangetic West Bengal, have recorded significant below-normal monsoon rain.
The countrywide average rainfall accumulation stood 10 percent more than usual in the third week of August. In the first and second week of August, India received 28% and 45 percent above normal monsoon rainfall. As many as 28 sub divisions have recorded normal monsoon while eight received deficient rainfall.
