Rabi sowing likely to be 2 pc higher than last season: Report

MUMBAI: The rabi, or winter crop, sowing is likely to be about 2 per cent higher this year than in the previous marketing year, according to a report.

Sowing for the rabi crop season had already covered 348 lakh hectare (ha) by November 27, which is 4 per cent more than in the whole of the previous season, and 2 per cent above the average of the past five years, Crisil Ratings said in a report.

Rabi sowing has been spurred by abundant rains this year with an overall 9 per cent above-normal monsoon leading to high soil moisture and 19 per cent higher reservoir levels compared with the average of the past five years, the report added.


Timely kharif harvest has also ensured rabi sowing was on schedule, it stated.

Last year, kharif harvest was delayed, so acreage growth under rabi was on a low base till November 2019. However, sowing picked up from December. Hence, rabi sowing for the current season will be up against the high base from last December.

"Net-net, we expect current rabi sowing (corresponding to marketing year, or January-December 2021) to be 2 per cent more than the all-time high of 662 lakh ha seen in the previous marketing year," the report stated.

However, after cyclone Nivar, another storm 'Burevi' is likely to hit Tamil Nadu in the first week of December, which could damage ongoing rabi sowing of pulses in the state if it turns out to be severe, Crisil Ratings added.