No worries yet on sporadic monsoon hitting sowing

The sporadic progress of the southwest monsoon has had an impact on sowing of kharif crops, as government data shows. However, industry experts and farmers are not worried yet as there is still time for sowing.

The real worry will set in only if the country fails to witness substantial rains by the month-end, they said. Government data shows maize sowing down 20 per cent year-on-year at 398,900 hectares, oilseed crops at 221,000 hectares, down almost 33 per cent.

"We are not worried... There is still a lot of time for sowing," said B V Mehta, executive director, Solvent Extractors' Association of India.

Oilseed sowing continues till July 15. Major oilseed growing areas such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are yet to receive constant, heavy showers that are conducive for oilseed sowing.

"Soybean sowing has been very limited in Maharashtra. It is insignificant and has been sown only in irrigated areas so far," said Rajesh Agrawal, spokesperson, Soybean Processors' Association of India.

He said farmers are waiting for the rains to start sowing. The northern limit of the southwest monsoon is currently passing through Vengurla on the Konkan coast, Gulbarga in Karnataka, Nizamabad and Ramagundam in Andhra Pradesh, Gopalpur in West Bengal, Balasore in Orissa, Ranchi in Jharkhand, Gaya in Bihar and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. The Arabian Sea wing of the southwest monsoon is behind schedule.

Dispelling fears over sowing being hit, a senior agriculture ministry official said, given the spatial distribution of rains so far, the prediction of a normal monsoon and the current temperature regime "" all are seen favouring kharif output. "We need to worry only if rains do not cover the entire northern region by the end of this month," he said.