Sowing hampered by erratic rains

MONSOON WATCH

The revival of the monsoon from July-end in most parts of the country may have dispelled the spectre of drought, but it is unlikely to fully heal the damage caused to agriculture by erratic rains.

However, the sowing operations, interrupted due to the break in the monsoon, have resumed and the crops sown earlier have received a fresh lease of life.

But the area sown is still short of normal, by as much as 40 per cent in coarse cereals, 43.9 per cent in pulses, 15.7 per cent in oilseeds and 13.8 per cent in paddy.

Even if this shortfall is made up, which seems likely if the rains last, the productivity of the belatedly sown crops is unlikely to be normal, farm experts feel. But this output loss is difficult to quantify.

The monsoon activity in the last week to 10 days has been good, but confined largely to the central India. About 60 per cent above-normal rainfall was recorded in this region in the week ending August 11, wiping out the commutative rainfall deficiency there. But almost the entire north-west, most of the south and some pockets in the east remained rain-deficient in this week as well.

However, the overall seasonal rainfall situation now appears quite satisfactory from the meteorological angle as the rainfall deficiency has dropped to just 7 per cent from the 11 per cent till the week ending August 4.

The number of meteorological subdivisions falling in the deficient category (out of the total 36) has fallen to nine from 12, a week earlier. These include west Rajasthan (-35 per cent), east Rajasthan (-22 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (-44 per cent), Haryana (-28 per cent), Punjab and Jharkhand (-35 per cent each), Vidharba (-22 per cent) and coastal Karnataka (-22 per cent). In comparison, 11 subdivisions were rain-deficient till this time in 2003 (good monsoon year) and 19 in 2002 (drought year).

The water level in the reservoirs has also risen by about 12 per cent in this week. The total water storage in 71 major reservoirs on August 13 was 55.77 billion cubic metres, representing 42 per cent of the full storage capacity.

This is about 10 per cent higher than the corresponding position last year, but about 16 per cent below past 10 years' average. As many as 27 dams have less than 30 per cent storage.

The week-wise distribution of rainfall (see the accompanying chart) reveals that the monsoon remained elusive in most areas for five weeks at a stretch, or the entire middle half, of the 10-week monsoon season so far.

This period, between June-end and July-end, was critical for the crop planting in most part of the country, barring south. This prolonged dry spell caused delay in sowing in many states, necessitated resowing in some others, and adversely affected the standing crops.

Though the resumed rainy spell has benefited all the standing crops, besides facilitating fresh sowing, it has also created conditions conducive for emergence of pests and diseases.

Attack of pyrilla pest on sugarcane has been reported from Punjab and that of woolly aphid (sucking pest) from many other cane growing tracts. Leaf folder malady has also been reported from some paddy-growing pockets in Punjab.

On the other hand, the end of the dry season has reduced the threat of white fly insect on the vegetables and other crops.

Agriculture experts have advised the farmers to spray the crops with suitable pesticides if the pest population rises above threshold level, where it starts inflicting economic loss. They have also suggested them to apply booster dose of urea to enhance crop health in areas getting good showers.