Kharif sowing picks up, eastern states lag in paddy

Sowing for kharif crops picked up pace after a spurt in rainfall across most parts of the country, but acreage for paddy was still lagging mainly due to deficient monsoon in eastern states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

According to the data released by the Agriculture Ministry, total area sown to Kharif crops as of Friday was 737.96 lakh hectares as compared to 797.69 lakh hectares for the same period last year.

Farmers have planted paddy on 197.63 lakh hectares as against 225.60 lakh hectares last year. Less acreage has been reported from eastern states such as Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh which has received deficient rains this monsoon season.

A spell of good showers across the country helped bridge the rainfall deficiency this monsoon season. According to the India Meteorological Department, monsoon rains were 3% deficient of the Long Period Average as of Friday.

However, in the east and north-east India, the rainfall deficiency was to the tune of 30%.

Sowing for pulses has picked up with farmers planting them on 103.35 lakh hectares, which is more than the normal level of 87.56 lakh hectares for the corresponding week, but less than the 113.24 lakh hectares achieved last year.

As per the Agriculture Ministry data, coarse cereal acreage stood at 136.23 lakh hectares, which was 5.79% lower than the normal levels of 144.59 lakh hectares. The higher area was reported from Madhya Pradesh (3.22 lakh ha) and Haryana (0.88 lakh ha).

Oilseeds also reported lower acreage than normal with farmers having sown such crops on 140.74 lakh hectares, which is 7.02 lakh hectares less than normal coverage for the corresponding week.