Steady rise in kharif sowing: 100 million hectares acreage so far

NEW DELHI: With the narrowing of rainfall deficiency across the country, sowing of kharif crops has shown a steady increase as the total acreage has risen close to 100 million hectares, although still lower than a year ago.

Sowing of kharif crops showed a steady increase during this week. The total sown area as on 12 September, as per reports received from states, stands at 99.91 million hectare as compared to 103.28 lakh hectare at this time last year, Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.

Sowing of kharif crop begins with the onset of monsoon as a majority of the agriculture land in the country is dependant on rains, as on date the monsoon deficiency has come down to 11 per cent.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department, the overall monsoon deficiency till August 27 was 18 per cent.

As of today, rice has been sown in 36.69 million hectares, coarse cereals in 17.58 million hectares, pulses in 9.92 million hectares, oilseeds in 17.52 million hectares and sugarcane in 4.87 million hectares.

The acreage sown to these crops is still lower than the year-ago period because sowing operations got delayed due to late arrival of southwest monsoon.

However, the sowing area of cotton has increased to 12.52 million hectares from 11.35 million hectares last year.

Deficient monsoon rains has affecting sowing operations in the kharif season. With kharif crops covered in less area, overall production is expected to be affected.

The government is working on the first estimate of kharif crop production for 2014-15 and the production forecast will be released soon.