Cotton and soyabean, the crops which have seen remunerative prices last year, have lured Maharashtra farmers this year.
The area under these cash crops has increased considerably, against the usual and last year's coverage.
In the case of cotton, farmers have sown on over 40 lakh hectares (lh) against the normal 25.9 lh and last year's 39.34 lh. What could have gone in favour of cotton is the prices farmers fetched last year. With the Centre deciding to continue raw cotton exports, farmers may continue to fetch better prices for their crop.
Over 30 lh have been brought under soyabean against the usual 22 lh and last year's 25.46 lh. Demand for oilseeds and stable prices for oils have helped farmers to go in for this soyabean. This has helped a better oilseeds coverage of 33.43 lh against 29.32 lh last year, despite drop in groundnut coverage to 2.1 lh from 2.5 lh last year. Groundnut, this year, has yielded acreage to cotton or sugarcane. In places such as Kolhapur, area under groundnut has dropped by nearly 50,000 hectares. Groundnut acreage has declined by 1.19 lh this year.
Kharif sowing across Maharashtra is almost complete in 128.64 lh, which is 97 per cent of the cultivable area of 132.34 lakh hectares. The State has received about 709.4 mm of rainfall, which is normal.
A senior Maharashtra Government official said that rains were erratic in June, affecting sowing in areas such as Marathwada. Since mid-July, there has been good rain helping farmers complete the sowing process. The official said that due to more demand from poultry and animal feed industry, the area under maize has increased significantly in the last couple of years. “They are opting for sugarcane because of good rates offered by sugar mills. Farmers are routinely cheated by traders when they transport crops such as groundnut. They are also short-changed during weighing in the marked yard. The sugar mills, which run on a cooperative basis, are much more professional in these aspects and they pay the farmer's dues on time.”
Pulses coverage in the State has dropped, though the area under tur is higher than normal. A drop in prices for pulses such as tur, urad and moong has forced farmers to shift to other crops.
Mr Sandeep Bajoria, Chairman of the All-India Cotton Seed Crushers Association, said that overall kharif sowing has been satisfactory. Area under crops, such as sunflower, is lower this year due to inadequate rains in Dhule and Jalgaon regions, he said.