Kharif sowing keeps its momentum

The total area sown under kharif crops so far has been almost 57.5% more than last year at 30.60 million hectares

Sowing of kharif crops maintained its good run during the week ended July 3, mainly as an after-effect of more than normal rains in June.

The total area sown under kharif crops so far has been almost 57.5 per cent more than last year at 30.60 million hectares. Between the week ended June 26 and July 3, the area covered rose by almost 85 per cent, though it is less than 30 per cent of the normal sown area.

In June, India received around 16 per cent more than normal rains, which was among the best performance in last three years. IMD said. The country got around 189.5 millimetres of rainfall last month as against a normal of around 163.6 millimeters.

Data from department of agriculture released on Friday shows that area under coarse cereals which till now was less than 2014, improved during the week due to good rains over eastern India, where maize is grown in large quantities. Coarse cereals have been planted in around 4.37 million hectares, as against 2.89 million hectares during the same period last year.

Rice, which is the biggest foodgrain grown during the kharif season was sown in 5.40 million hectares, up from 5.35 million hectares sown in the same period last year.

Oilseeds were planted in 7.41 million hectares of land till July 03 as against 1.47 million hectares during the same period last year.

Though, the oilseeds acreage is still just 40 per cent of the normal area under oilseeds, but the pace might pick up if rains return over central and western parts of the country by next week.

The total acreage under pulses was estimated to be around 2.26 million hectares, which was 133 per cent more than the same period last year. The area covered is just 21 per cent of the normal area.

Water levels in the 91 major reservoirs across the country as on July 02 was at 48.07 billion cubic meters, which was 31 per cent of their total storage capacity. This was 129 per cent of storage of corresponding period of last year and 145 per cent of average storage position of last 10 years.

The met department in its weekly forecast released yesterday said that rains may remain above normal over West India during July 11-15 and over northern plains between July 16-20, though it might remain subdued over interior parts of peninsular India during many days.

The data also showed that monsoon so far in the entire season that is from June 1 to July 1 has been 13 per cent more than normal, with almost all the regions contributing to this except East and North-East India.