Beneficent rain sows seeds of hope for Kharif

Thanks to good rainfall so far, sowing of Kharif crop has picked up momentum across the country. Till now, sowing has been completed in 563.35 lakh hectares as compared to 346.34 lakh hectares last year during the same period. Overall, Kharif crop planting is up by 62 per cent from last year. However, there is not much good news in terms of paddy crop. Rice sowing/transplantation has been reported to be 17 lakh hectares less than the usual 149.11 lakh hectares that is sown, even though it is still up from last year. Till now 132.11 lakh hectares of paddy crop has been sown as compared to 126.55 lakh hectares last year. Rice sowing in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat is a little better as compared to last year.

Officials in the Agriculture Ministry said it was too early to predict any deficit or surplus as sowing is picking up fast in several States. The weather department has claimed that rainfall is likely to be above normal in most eastern and north-eastern parts of India by July end and August. With 288.8 mm rain in June, monsoon is deficient by about 6 per cent in India so far.Interestingly, significant increase has been recorded in rain-fed crops such as oilseeds, pulses, coarse cereals and cotton and it seems in view of uncertainty of rainfall, farmers have shifted to sowing oilseeds for better cash return from their crop. 

Oilseed sowing this season has reached 127.12 lakh hectares compared to 38.07 lakh hectares last year. Similarly, sowing of pulses has touched 55.99 lakh hectares this season compared to 23.92 lakh hectares last year and coarse cereals went up from 47.65 lakh hectares in 2014-15 to 102.35 lakh hectares this year. There has been sharp increase in cotton seed sowing as well — 93.22 lakh hectares this year compared to 46.09 lakh hectares last year. There is a marginal decline in sugarcane and jute-mesta sowing. The real challenge will be for farmers in the coming days mainly in States like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh where unequal distribution of rains can cause duress.