Despite floods in over dozen of States such as Gujarat, Uttrakhand, Assam, Rajasthan, Bihar and Odisha, foodgrain output in the ongoing 2017-18 kharif season is set to surpass last year's record of 138.04 million tonnes due to higher acreage and good monsoon for the second straight year.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture data released last week, farmers have sown kharif crops in 878.23 lakh hectare as against 855.85 lakh hectare in the year-ago period. The main kharif (summer) crop — was sown in 280.03 lakh hectare, as against 266.93 lakh hectare, while pulses covered 121.28 lakh hectare as against 116.95 lakh hectare in the said period.
However, oilseeds acreage was down at 148.88 lakh hectare till last week of the kharif season from 165.49 lakh hectare in the same period last year. As per the data, cotton acreage has increased to 114.34 lakh hectare so far in the 2017-18 kharif season from 96.48 lakh hectare in the year-ago period on account of good rains and better prices. It is estimated that at least 30 percent cotton sowing damaged in the current flood. Similarly, acreage under sugarcane has gone up to 49.71 lakh hectare from 45.64 lakh hectare in the said period because of good monsoon and timely payment of cane arrears by sugar mills.
As per the Ministry's data, arhar acreage has been declined from 45.19 lakh hectare in last year to 37.51 lakh hectare in the current kharif crop season. "Taking price signals from last year, farmers have cut down area under arhar and soybean and increased planting of cotton," officials said. Sowing of arhar or pigeon pea is lower by 17 percent compared to last year, the data shows. While the area under soybean is lower by 11 percent , plantings of cotton are higher by 18.51 percent. Prices of both arhar and soybean plunged below minimum support prices (MSP) announced by the government following a record Kharif harvest last year.
In many towns, prices of pulses at retail stores have fallen sharply in the past six months, traders said. "Retail price of arhar dal has come down to Rs 92 a kg from Rs 190, in the past six months. Similarly, chana dal has cooled to Rs 105 a kg from Rs 180, and urad dal to Rs 130 a kg from Rs 200, in the past six months. The retail prices of pulses will see a further fall of Rs 2-5 a kg after the second week of August owing to bumper imports ," officials said. Even masur and urad have fallen to Rs 30-34 a kg while tur had fallen to Rs 35 a kg from Rs 90 last year. Sowing of kharif crops begins in June and continues through July as the monsoon progresses across the country.
According to Met Department, due to erratic monsoon, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Mizoram, Uttrakhand have received more rainfall while Kerala, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland faced a deficient rainfall. The States like J&K, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, West Madhya Pradesh, the rest of UP, parts of Bihar, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura will see normal monsoon, predicted the weathermen.
In fact, around August 9, both the states of Assam and Meghalaya will once again witness heavy to extremely heavy rains. These showers will continue for some time.