Farmers regain hope of crop output

MONSOON WATCH

Despair to hope. This is how the revival of the monsoon since around July 28 has transformed the country's farm outlook.

Not only have the fears about widespread drought been virtually dispelled, there is a degree of hope now of getting some output from the lands that have remained unsown for want of rains.

Of course, the damage caused by the loss of almost a month of crop growing period cannot be retrieved. But more harm has been averted.

The standing crops have been saved of further damage and conditions are now conducive for fresh planting of crops like pulses and fodders in the northwest and central India and oilseeds and suitable varieties of paddy in the south.

Even a high-value crop like basmati can be grown in parts of Haryana, where crops can not be sown or have withered due to dry July.

The recharging of reservoirs has picked up, obviating the need for cuts in the hydel power production and irrigation. The total water storage in 71 major reservoirs stood on August 6 at 86 per cent of the last year's corresponding position and 65 per cent of the past 10 years' average.

Considering a good rainfall in the catchment areas of most reservoirs and the usual time lag in the inflow of water into the reservoirs, the situation is expected to improve rather rapidly in the coming days.

However, the recent floods in the northeast, notably in Assam and Bihar, and the current inundation in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana will take a toll of crop output. But this loss is usually made up due to better harvests subsequently.

Mercifully, the rainfall in northeastern regions has remained relatively subdued during the past week, causing the floods to abate. Almost all rivers of the region are now flowing below the danger mark. But no such respite is in sight for the north-west.

The overall deficiency in the cumulative monsoon rainfall, which was 15 per cent till July 28, receded to 10 per cent by August 4, thanks to 20 per cent excess rainfall during this week.

Five meteorological subdivisions have come out of the deficient rainfall bracket during this period, raising the number of total subdivisions in the normal rainfall category from 19 to 24. About 288 of the total 524 districts, which represent about 66 per cent of the geographical area, are now in normal or excess rainfall category.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) expects the monsoon to remain active over the central India for at least one more week. Good showers are also projected for the hilly areas of the north-west in the next few days.

According to experts of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), cultivation of pulses like moth, cowpea and guar and fodders like bajra and kulthi is possible now in the north-west, including Rajasthan. However, grain crop of bajra (Rajasthan's main staple cereal) is ruled out.

In the central India, the rains have opened up possibilities of growing pulses like moong, urd and cowpea and even arhar in parts of Madhya Pradesh, besides oilseeds like sesamum and castor and coarse cereal like maize.

In parts of Andhra Pradesh, where sowing could not be done, groundnut can still be planted. Similarly, many areas in West Bengal, where paddy could not be seeded earlier, it can be planted now.

The recent rains are said to be a boon for the standing paddy and cotton crops. In fact, the acreage under both these crops is more or less normal and the worries about poor yields will lessen now. The area under pulses is bound to rise because of the extensive, albeit belated, sowing.