Monsoon ends its deficit, sowing operation picks up with focus on pulses and oilseeds
by Vishwa Mohan
With the monsoon rainfall over the country as a whole turning from 11% deficit on June 30 to 2% surplus on July 8, the pan-India sowing operation of Kharif (summer sown) crops has picked up bringing the overall acreage to 14% more than the corresponding period last year.
The latest data, released by the agriculture ministry on Monday, shows that the overall acreage as of last Friday stood at 378 lakh hectares which was 47 lakh hectares more than the same period last year. This increase is marked by a 50% rise in the acreage of both pulses and oilseeds. Acreage of water-guzzling paddy, on the other hand, has so far increased by merely 19%.
The country had even reported higher acreage of Kharif crops in June compared to the corresponding period in 2023, despite a bigger deficit in monsoon rainfall for the month. Though both the years — 2023 and 2024 — reported deficit rainfall in June, the deficit this year (11%) was bigger than the deficit (9%) last year. Nevertheless, acreage of Kharif crops as on June 28 this year was 59 lakh hectares (over 32%) more than the corresponding period of last year.
Agriculture ministry’s acreage data shows that the total sown area in the country as on June 28 was 240 lakh hectares compared to 181 lakh hectares during the same period last year.
“Since many areas did not receive rainfall in June, farmers preferred to opt for less water-consuming pulses (arhar) and oilseeds (soybean) over water-guzzling paddy. Such smart choices could see higher acreage this June compared to the same month last year,” said an official.
The sown area is expected to increase further in July as there is a forecast of ‘above normal’ rainfall for the month. “Fairly good distributed rainfall during July-September will, hopefully, increase the Kharif acreage this year over the normal (average of last five years) acreage of the season,” said the official.
This article has been republished from The Times of India.