Kharif Planting Rises 40 per cent on Strong Monsoon Start

The kharif or summer-sown season, has witnessed an increase in crop planting by 40 per cent year-on-year, helped by the strong start of the monsoon season. This increase in planting has been led by oilseeds and coarse cereals. The boost is been provided by increase in rainfall. Rainfall since June 1 has been 31 per cent higher than that a year ago.

So far, the total area under cultivation has risen to 13.13 million hectares, from 9.42 million hectares a year ago.

“The sharp increase is due to sowing of oilseeds, particularly groundnut, which has been sown in a large area of Gujarat, where monsoon has reached at least 10 days prior to the schedule. Total oilseeds area during this period is almost eight times more than that last year,” said a senior agriculture department official. He said the area under coarse cereals has gone up 144 per cent over that last year.

He added that the timely arrival and rapid spread of the monsoon along with good pre-monsoon showers in the north accelerated sowing.

“However, the area of rice is showing a slight dip this week from last year while area under pulses has gone up. We have not received complete sowing data from Punjab. The actual area of rice then may be higher than reported this week,” said a second official.

The area under cotton has seen a steep rise of 58 per cent owing to an increase in minimum support price (MSP) by Rs 260-275 (US$ 3.68- 3.90) per quintal. The farmers in Punjab have also shifted their focus from rice to cotton leading to the increase in area of cotton crop. This is mainly as they are opting for less labour-intensive cotton cultivation to rice plantation.

“While Gujarat has seen a decline in area under cotton, there is a steep rise in Punjab and Rajasthan,” said the official.

Source: IBEF