Kharif Planting Currently Running Slower Due to Delayed Monsoon

As per fresh reports, the pre-monsoon season from March to May 2022 has recorded only one percent less rainfall than the Long-Term Average (LPA). However, there has been very little rainfall in the regions of central India and northwest India. 

India’s 2022 23 Kharif sowing is down 38.64 % as of June 24. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted in its latest report that an intense spell of rainfall may continue along the west coast during the next 3-4 days. The weather department also said that increased rainfall activity is likely to prevail over Northwest and Central India from June 27th onwards.

The Kharif sowing has been affected adversely because of a dry spell and the extreme rainfall in the Northeast areas. In the rest of the country, the sowing progress continues. Following the extreme heatwaves, the monsoon has been delayed in Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. Due to this, sowing operations have been altered therefore a slower start is being observed in the planted area. The area planted with cotton totaled 3.18 million hectares, down from 3.73 million hectares a year earlier.

Farmers have a relatively lesser time frame to complete the sowing of cotton, therefore more rains are needed to pick up to help growers plant the crop. The sowing of soybeans, the main summer oilseed crop, stood at 278,000 million hectares, compared with 1.25 million hectares at the same time in 2021.

The area planted with pulses has increased to 202,000 hectares against 132,000 hectares last year. But pulse acreage could drop in the next few weeks as some farmers might switch to more lucrative cotton and soybean, Sugarcane planting was almost unchanged at 5.07 million hectares. The weather department reported on June 24th, that an increased rainfall activity is likely to prevail over Northwest and Central India from June 27th onwards.

India’s agriculture sector was among the few segments that showed a noticeable growth despite the pandemic concerns. Experts in April 2022 have estimated India’s agricultural growth rate to India near 3.9 percent in FY 2022-23, surpassing the 2021-22 growth rate of 3.6 percent approximately.