Paddy sowing 94% less than ‘normal’ in June 2024, data shows

The area under paddy, India’s primary Kharif crop, was 94 per cent less than its ‘normal’ sown area as of June 28, according to data released by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on July 5. 

Paddy has been sown in 2.2 million hectares (mha). The figure is much lower than the ‘normal’ sowing area of 40.5 mha. Normal is calculated as the average sowing recorded during the corresponding period between 2018-19 and 2022-23.

June, the first month of the southwest monsoon season (June-September), ended with a deficit of 11 per cent. The month also saw a long break in the monsoon, leading to skewed distribution of rains across districts.  

Forty-nine per cent of India’s districts have received deficient (20 per cent to 59 per cent below normal) or large deficient rainfall (>60 per cent below normal) in June 2024. Of these, 31 per cent had deficient and 18 per cent had large deficient rains.

This left rain-dependent farmers in a precarious situation, with many delaying sowing operations over apprehensions of a timely monsoon.

While paddy sowing was lower than the ‘normal’, it was marginally more — by 0.004 mha — than sowing in the corresponding period of 2023.

The data, however, does not give state-wise figures of area sown under different crops. In fact, in the ongoing crop season, this is the first time the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare released a crop-wise area coverage report. The previous updates only reported an overall Kharif position.

The National Food Security Mission website, which usually updates its crop-wise and state-wise data every Friday, has not released data for several weeks now.

Overall Kharif position

The figures released on July 5, showed sown area of 21 key Kharif crops (including paddy) under different categories — pulses (arhar, urad, moong), millets (jowar, ragi, bajra), oilseeds (groundnut, soybean, sunflower), sugarcane, jute, and cotton.

Overall, the combined area sown under Kharif crops till now was 85.5 mha less than the normal area for this time. In 2024, 24.7 mha has been sown till June 28. The ‘normal’ sown area for the corresponding period is 109.5 mha. However, in 2023, 18.1 mha was sown till June end.

All crops reported much less in sown area, when compared to their ‘normal’ area. For example, area under pulses (all combined) was 2.2 mha, whereas ‘normal’ area for pulses was 13.6 mha.

Similarly, oilseeds and cotton have reported an area of 4.2 mha and 5.9 mha, against their respective normal of 19 mha and 12.9 mha. Maize has been sown in 2.3 mha; its ‘normal’ area was 7.6 mha. 

Meanwhile, area under sugarcane (5.6 mha) was higher than its normal sown area (5.1 mha) by this time.

However, all crops, except bajra, groundnut, castor, and jute reported more sown area by July 1, 2024, when compared to same period in 2023.

This article has been republished from The Down to Earth Magazine.