An above-normal southwestern monsoon has given a huge boost to kharif sowing. According to latest IMD data, cumulative rainfall in the country between June 1 and July 11 was 19% above normal, with the northwestern and central regions getting 67% and 41% higher rain than the long-period average (LPA). LPA is the average countrywide annual rainfall (89 cm) recorded between 1951 and 2000.
An agriculture ministry official said that though the monsoon had been sluggish over the last one week, it has still brought down the number of rain-deficient districts from 63 to 56. However, the eastern and northeastern regions have a rainfall deficit of 33%, while the southern peninsula received 29% above-normal rainfall.
According to the ministry of agriculture data released on Friday, sowing of kharif crop ? rice, pulses, coarse cereals, oil seeds, cotton and sugarcane ? has crossed 51 million hectare, a 51% increase over last year?s 31
million hectare.
Rice has been sown over 11 million hectare so far against 9.7 million hectare during the same period last year. Agricultural experts say many farmers have started transplanting paddy, while a chunk of farmers has been busy preparing nurseries.
?With the exception of northeastern parts, most rice-growing areas have got excess rain, which has helped transplanting,? Trilochan Mohapatra, director, Central Rice Research Institute
(CRRI), a Cuttack-based national institute under the Indian Council for Agricultural Research, told FE.
Rice production during 2012-13 was 104 mt, out of which 90 mt was grown in the kharif season. Due to a failed monsoon in 2009-10, paddy production fell 14% to 89.09 mt. The total area under rice cultivation in the country is estimated at around 44 mh. More than 88% of rice is grown in the kharif season and sowing will continue till August.
?By and large, there has been good rain everywhere and farmers have started sowing activities. This is a good sign. I will be able to give the final data on sowing by the second week of August,? said agriculture minister Sharad Pawar recently.
Sowing of pulses doubled to more than 2.6 mh against 1.3 mh in the year-ago period. Oilseed sowing rose more than 100% to 13.5 mh.
?If the monsoon remains normal during the next two months, we could expect a bumper harvest,? said an agriculture ministry official. Meanwhile, IMD has predicted rain at many places in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, among others, in the next four days.
