Sun shines on kharif crops, sowing up

Cotton, soybean, sugarcane, jowar, bajra acreage to better last year's rate

Kharif acreage shortfall is on a reduction trend. In fact, for commodities like cotton, soybean, sugarcane, jowar and bajra, the acreage may be higher than last year, according to the latest agriculture ministry data.

Delay in onset and advancement of the south west monsoon have led to a shortfall in the kharif acreage this year.

In a week's time, cotton sowing has improved by 0.55 per cent on year compared to last week, when it was down by six per cent. Sowing of rice is merely down 3 per cent on year from last week, when it was down 15.4 per cent.

As on August 1, oilseed sowing is down 2.4 per cent on year and rice down 3 per cent. On the other hand, sugarcane acreage has risen 10.18 per cent on year, coarse cereals is up 14.15 per cent and cotton and jute have acreage have also gone up slightly.

OILSEEDS Kharif sowing is down merely 2.45 per cent at 137.56 lakh hectares compared with 141.02 lakh hectares last year.

This shortfall is largely due to delayed monsoon.

The data says soybean sowing has gone up this year compared to last two years.

This higher coverage is due to a better spread in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

The acreage in Madhya Pradesh is less on year, due to delayed onset and advancement of monsoon. Experts, however, are still hopeful of improvement in area acreage. Sowing in other states has been completed.

Soybean acreage is now up 1.3 per cent at 70.40 lakh hectares compared with 69.52 lakh hectares last year.

A significant improvement in groundnut acreage has been seen within the last week. However, the coverage still is down 8.63 per cent on year at 45.40 lakh hectares.

This is largely due to a lower acreage in Gujarat due to delayed onset of monsoons and heavy rains later. Other states that have seen lower acreage are Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. While the sowing in Gujarat is over, it is still on in Karntaka and Andhra Pradesh.

Sunflower sowing is down 30 per cent at 4.39 lakh hectares, sesamum is down 1.5 per cent at 11.70 lakh hectares and niger seed down sowing is down 7 per cent at 66,000 hectares.

On the other hand, castor seed acreage is up 69 per cent at 5.02 lakh hectares following a rise in acreage in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

RICE Though rice sowing has started in most states, it is merely down 3 per cent on year at 196.60 lakh hectares.

The data said major shortfall has been reported in sowing in Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Orissa.

COTTON Cotton sowing is up 0.55 per cent on year to 69.37 lakh hectares.

The shortfall has been reported in Maharashtra due to delayed onset of monsoon this year.

Of the total coverage under cotton, the Bt Cotton is likely to be around 3.75 lakh hectares, about 6 per cent.

COARSE CEREALS Coarse cereals sowing continue to show good improvement and this is largely due to rise in acreage of bajra and jowar.

Coarse cereals acreage is up 14.05 per cent on year to 174.51 lakh hectares. Acreage of jowar is estimated at 34.67 lakh hectares, up 12 per cent and that of bajra is up 36 per cent, at 65.98 lakh hectares. On the other hand, maize sowing is just down 2 per cent at 62.18 lakh hectares.

SUGARCANE Sugarcane acreage is seen higher on year at 41.34 lakh hectares compared with 37.52 lakh hectares last year, up 10.2 per cent.

PULSES Pulses coverage is merely down 11 per cent on year at 72.2 lakh hectares. While coverage under moth is up to 6.7 lakh hectares this year (from last year's 49,000 hectares), that under arhar, urad and moong still fall short.

JUTE The area coverage is reported to be 788,000 hectares compared with 769,000 hectares during the corresponding period last year.