Farmers Forced to Re-sow Soyabean and Maize Due to Soil Moisture Deficit

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) recently announced that monsoon has covered the whole country. Yet, many parts of India are still waiting for a good rain. Due to the deficiency of rain in several parts of the country, the soil has become moisture-deficit and farmers are thinking of re-sowing rain-dependent Kharif crops like soyabean and maize.  

These areas are Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.  

According to farmers, the weather office had done a short-term forecast for a fortnight. They had based their sowing on this forecast. Now, it seems that the forecast was off the mark. Rains are still awaited.  

In the words of a progressive farmer in Nashik, Maharashtra, “We started sowing maize and soybean last week expecting good rainfall, as predicted by IMD. Now there is uncertainty ruling about all that sowing. “We started sowing maize and soybean last week expecting good rainfall, as predicted by IMD. Now there is uncertainty ruling about all that sowing." 

IMD data 

Data of IMD suggests that 14 states of India had rainfall deficit of 20-59% between July 1 and 13. States like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat are suffering from a staggering deficit of 60-99%.  

Only 5 states of India received normal rainfall this season so far. Further, 4 states received excess and over excess rainfall.  

Sowing scene  

In Maharashtra, data as per news reports till July 5 suggests that sowing of bajra, jowar, maize, and cotton is lagging by 43%, 47%, 4%, and 19%, respectively, as compared with last year. The overall Kharif sowing, including sowing of sugarcane, is lagging by 14%.  

High temperature in north and northwest India has led to moisture stress in Kharif crops. In the peninsular states, the break in monsoon has impacted crops.  

And while farmers may be forced to re-sow, another challenge would be the availability of good quality seeds.