India’s monsoon, the main source of irrigation for the nation’s 235 million farmers, advanced to the biggest cotton, sugar cane and rice-producing regions almost a week ahead of schedule, aiding early planting of crops.
Monsoonal rains covered Mumbai, most parts of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh states, and conditions are “favorable” for their advance to south Gujarat and parts of Karnataka in the next two days, the India Meteorological Department said in a statement on Monday. Maharashtra is the nation’s biggest sugar producer, while Gujarat is the biggest cotton grower.
Timely precipitation is critical for the nation’s farmers, collectively the world’s second-biggest producer of rice, sugar and cotton, in boosting yields and deciding which crop to grow. Agriculture makes up 14 per cent of the economy and a bumper harvest will boost rural incomes, lifting sales of tractors, cars and refrigerators and cool food inflation.
“We expect a bumper crop this year,” said P Chengal Reddy, secretary-general of Consortium of Indian Farmers Associations, whose members represent about 40 million growers. The rainfall will help farmers begin sowing early, he said.
Monsoon-sown rice production may climb as much as 7 per cent to a record 86 million metric tons as normal monsoon rains spur planting, Tarsem Saini, president of the Federation of All India Rice Millers Association, said last week. That should prompt the government to ease a ban on grain exports, Reddy said.
India banned shipments of non-basmati rice in April 2008 and wheat in early 2007 to bolster domestic supplies. State reserves of rice and wheat totaled 59.3 million tons in state warehouses as of May 1, according to the Food Corp of India.
‘HUGE STOCKS’
“The government should allow exports of food grains and help farmers make more money,” Reddy said. “We have huge stocks and there is also need for food in some countries.”
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Wheat futures, which have jumped 80 per cent in the past year, advanced for a third day on speculation that the US government may pare its estimate for global supply as droughts parch crops from the US to China. The July-delivery contract gained as much as 0.6 per cent to $7.78 per bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade and traded at $7.7575 at 1:37 pm in Mumbai. Rough rice futures have advanced 32 per cent in the past year.
Rains were 36 per cent above average until yesterday, according to the India Meteorological Department. The nation received 21.3 millimeters (0.8 inch) of rain in the June 1 to June 5 period, it said on its website. That’s more than the 15.7 millimeters average considered normal for the period.
“It is July, not the June rains that matter for the agriculture sector,” Sonal Varma, a Mumbai-based economist at Nomura Holdings Inc., said in a report on Monday. “July rains determine the soil moisture and ensure proper development of the crops planted in June.”
CANE PLANTING
Indian farmers planted sugar cane in 5.06 million hectares (12.5 million acres) as of June 3, compared with 4.86 million hectares a year earlier, the farm ministry said last week. Cotton was sown in 1.48 million hectares from 1.15 million hectares a year ago, it said.
Sowing of monsoon crops begins in June and harvesting starts in September. The monsoon reached Mumbai yesterday, five days earlier than normal, and typically blankets the entire nation by July 15.
Rainfall may “slightly weaken” in the week beginning June 11, delaying the advance of the moisture-laden winds over the eastern parts of the country, the bureau said June 3