Kharif Sowing Gear Up with Rising Rainfall

Kharif sowing improved drastically with the increase of monsoon rainfall since last week. The sowing shortfall is down to 8.61 percent, covering 413.34 lakh hectares (LH), compared to 452.3 LH covered in the corresponding week of last year. Improvement in rainfall helped the farmers in speed up the sowing, according to data released by the Agriculture Ministry.

The overall rainfall deficit is coming down from 28 percent to 14 percent this week.  So far, only 30 percent of districts in the country received normal rainfall when 42 percent of them are in deficient and 11 percent are in acutely deficient condition.

Cultivation of Rice-

According to the report, Rice planting goes down by nearly 11 percent to 98 (LH) against 110 (LH) covered during the same period last year. States like Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh have reported with less area under rice cultivation.

All three major crops- arhar, urad, and moong are reported with lesser acreage when pulses cultivation still continues to be a subject of worry.  According to the report, the shortfall in planting is growing up to 25 percent when pulses stood 34.22 (LH) this week, compared with 45.73 LH in the same week last year. The most pulses-growing states including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are reported with a shortfall in cultivation.

The groundnut planting reported from Gujarat was not satisfactory enough to take care of the shortfall in soybean sowing in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, where it reportedly decreased by  21 percent.

Karnataka is also reported with submerged in oilseeds planting. The total area of oilseeds cultivation reported this week is 75.68 LH, nearly 10 percent lower than 83.78 LH achieved during the same week last year.

Cultivation of Cotton and other crops–

Cotton, on the other hand, is reported with higher cultivation in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Meanwhile, the area reported from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh is lower as compared to the same period in 2018-19.

Sugarcane area too reportedly decreased in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. On the other hand, the crop is doing well in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh as of now.