Area under kharif crops shrinks

The area under kharif crops continued to be less than last year’s, mainly due to inadequate rain in east India and parts of Gujarat, and also because of a drop in area under kharif pulses in Madhya Pradesh. However, with the monsoon showing signs of revival over east, NorthEast India and Gujarat there is a possibility that the shortfall in acreage will be covered. SANJEEB MUKHERJEE writes

The area under kharif crops continued to be less than last year’s, mainly due to inadequate rain in east India and parts of Gujarat, and also because of a drop in the area under kharif pulses in Madhya Pradesh. However, with the monsoon showing signs of revival over east, North-East India and Gujarat, there is a possibility that the shortfall in the acreage will be covered.

According to the latest data from the department of agriculture, till Friday kharif crops have been sown in around 63.15 million hectares (mn ha), 9.3 per cent less than the area covered during the same period last year.

The sowing of kharif crops will continue till the middle of August but with every passing day the window of sowing to get an optimum harvest is narrowing. Pulses, paddy, cotton and coarse cereals have seen major fall in acreage.

Till Friday, paddy, the biggest foodgrain grown during the kharif season, has been sown in around 15.65 mn ha, 13 per cent less than last year.

In Bihar, the drop in acreage has been highest. Paddy sowing there this year has been around 68 per cent less than area covered during the same period last year. In Assam, too, the area under paddy is around 23 per cent less than that of last year.

Southwest monsoon precipitation in Bihar till Friday has been 48 per cent less than normal; in Assam, it is nearly 30 per cent less than normal.

This effectively means so far Bihar has just received half of its normal amount of rain though more than 45 days have passed since the monsoon entered India.

In pulses, the total acreage is 17.63 per cent less than last year's, mainly due to fall in area under urad and moong in Madhya Pradesh. Some traders said this year farmers had planted less as prices fall sharply because of bumper stocks from last year. "They seem to have opted for soybean over pulses but it is still early to predict," a leading industry player of the state said.

Groundnut acreage has fallen almost 21 per cent, compared to the same period last year due to insufficient rain in parts of Gujarat till last week. Cotton area is down by almost 11.09 per cent, compared to the same period last year.

Overall, the southwest monsoon across the country was almost 4 per cent less than normal till July 20.