The Hindu Business Line : Kharif sowing picks up on good monsoon rains

With the South-West monsoon turning out to be more than normal in June, the Centre can hope for a further easing of inflationary pressures arising from a bumper kharif crop.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the country as a whole has received an area-weighted rainfall of 148.7 millimetres (mm) during June 1-29, which is 7.4 per cent more than the normal (long period average) of 138.5 mm for this period. The rains have been good in most parts, especially the South and North-West regions and also Maharashtra (barring Vidarbha), Chhattisgarh, Orissa and West Bengal.

It is only Central India (Vidarbha, Madhya Pradesh, mainland Gujarat and eastern Rajasthan), Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh that has witnessed somewhat weak precipitation. But even that could change, with the IMD predicting enhanced rainfall activity in Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh over the next week. In all, June has been a good month and this is reflected in a steady pick-up in kharif sowing operations.

Cotton, pulses acreage up

The Agriculture Ministry’s Crop Weather Watch report, released here on Friday, shows that the area planted under rice and coarse cereals so far this year is lagging behind last year, but is higher in the case of cotton and pulses. The cumulative acreage has been lower for rice (31.64 lakh hectares against 34.33 lh), maize (8.76 lh versus 12.55 lh), bajra (6.47 lh versus 6.89 lh) and jowar (2.86 lh versus 4.62 lh).

On the other hand, the total area under pulses, at 11.35 lh, is way above last year’s 7.45 lh, led by moong (5.04 lh versus 2.93 lh), arhar (2.70 lh versus 2.13 lh) and urad (2.04 lh versus 1.11 lh). It looks as though high price realisations have encouraged farmers to plant more area this time under pulses. The same is true for cotton, with the area sown so far, at 15.29 lh, being more than the 14.71 lh of last year. Significantly, out of the 15.29 lh, as much as 8.68 lh has come under Bt cotton – again an indication of how farmers respond to both prices and technology. Cotton acreage has particularly gone up in Punjab and Rajasthan.

Oilseeds lagging

On the oilseeds front, the total area till now, at 13.04 lh, has been lower than the corresponding 16.65 lh of last year, though higher than the 8.12 lh for 2005. There has been a fall in groundnut area (5.95 lh versus 8.18 lh), soyabean (2.91 lh versus 3.40 lh), sunflower (2.04 lh versus 2.85 lh) and sesamum (1.49 lh versus 1.83 lh). This could hopefully improve once the monsoon spreads to Central India and Gujarat.

All eyes are now on the way the monsoon behaves in July – the most crucial month for sowing. The normal area-weighted rainfall for July is 293 mm. The IMD’s latest forecast suggests actual precipitation at 95 per cent of this long period average for the month. In other words, not as good as the 107.4 per cent of June 1-27.

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