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Our Bureau

New Delhi, Aug. 22 Kharif oilseed plantings this year have finally crossed last year’s corresponding levels. According to the Agriculture Ministry’s latest crop weather watch report released here on Friday, a total 168.70 lakh hectares (lh) have been sown under oilseeds so far this year, which is more than the 167.51 lh covered during the same period of 2007.

Much of this has been on account of a seven lh-plus additional area brought under soyabean. All the three major soyabean-growing areas have seen an expansion in acreage: Madhya Pradesh (from 48.6 to 51.42 lh), Maharashtra (26.09 to 28.66) and Rajasthan (7.52 to 8.52).

Expectation of higher harvest prices is the main factor that has driven up acreages this time. Soyabean prices in Indore are currently ruling at Rs 2,625-2,650 a quintal against Rs 1,520-1,530 this time last year.

In the case of groundnut, the overall area has almost caught up with last year’s progressive coverage, but it is still about 4 lh behind the normal area. Groundnut area so far has been lagging behind in Andhra Pradesh (13.72 lh against 14.08 lh), Karnataka (5.84 against 7.03), Maharashtra (2.25 against 3.14) and Madhya Pradesh (1.90 against 2.17), while being ahead in Gujarat (17.90 against 16.65), Rajasthan (3.29 against 3.14), Tamil Nadu (1.98 against 1.93) and Uttar Pradesh (1.08 against 1.05).

Acreages are lower this year in all other oilseeds, including sesamum and sunflower, and also all major kharif pulses, coarse cereals, cotton, sugarcane and jute.

The real villain here has been the failure of monsoon rains during the most crucial sowing period from late June to the third week of July in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Although the south-west monsoon has staged a spectacular recovery since then, it has seemingly happened a bit too late.

Maharashtra has witnessed lower progressive coverage in rice (12.54 lh against 13.87 lh), jowar (8.70 against 12.15), bajra (6.76 against 12.13), maize (4.80 against 6.02), cotton (29.57 against 31.71), sugarcane (7.89 against 10.88), arhar (9.42 against 11.63), urad (3.08 against 6.12) and moong (4.06 against 6.93).

Karnataka has likewise registered a drop in maize (from 10.20 to 8.11), jowar (3.02 to 2.24), bajra (3.95 to 1.74), cotton (2.05 to 1.98), sugarcane (2.94 to 2.41), arhar (6.15 to 4.33), urad (1.42 to 0.94), moong (4.75 to 2.00) and sunflower (4.93 to 2.83).

In Andhra, there has been a decline in maize (5.59 to 4.85), arhar (4.18 to 3.34), moong (3.07 to 2.49), sugarcane (2.47 to 1.31), jowar (1.53 to 1.29), and sunflower (1.07 to 0.53), even as rice has gone up (12.98 to 13.36).

More Stories on : Oilseeds & Edible Oil | Cultivation

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