Planting of cotton has picked up in Punjab and Haryana where farmers, so far, seem to have planted more area than the corresponding period last year.
Punjab has reported higher cotton acreage of five lakh hectares despite a delayed start to planting, as the wheat harvest was slightly delayed.
In the same period last year, Punjab farmers had planted the fibre crop in about 3.91 lakh ha. Last year, the total crop under cotton in Punjab stood at 5.34 lakh ha. Similarly, in Haryana, cotton acreage has seen a marginal increase to 3.22 lakh ha against last year’s three lakh ha.
However, in Rajasthan, cotton planting is down by half to about one lakh ha so far, against last year’s two lakh ha.
With the recent resumption of futures trade in guarseed and guargum, cotton may face stiff competition in parts of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, where farmers may plant more of guar, as the returns seem to be relatively higher than the fibre crop. Cotton planting in the North is in advanced stages, while in other growing regions in Central, West and South India it will take off with the arrival of monsoon.
The transplanting of rice has started on a sluggish note mainly in States such as Assam, Nagaland, Odisha and Tamil Nadu.
In case of sugarcane, the all-India acreage is lower by about a tenth, as prevailing drought in Maharashtra and Karnataka has resulted in a decline. In Maharashtra, the acreage this year is lower at 5.11 lakh ha against 9.37 lakh ha last year, while in Karnataka it is marginally lower at 3.27 lakh ha against 3.65 lakh ha.
However, in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand, the cane acreage has seen a marginal rise.
In Uttar Pradesh, the country’s largest cane producing state, the planted area stood at 19.85 lakh ha against last year’s 19.78 lakh ha. Similarly, in Uttarakhand, the area is marginally up at 1.04 lakh ha against 0.95 lakh ha, while in Bihar the acreage was up at 2.40 lakh ha against last year’s 2.35 lakh ha.
Kharif planting
Kharif planting in the southern States will start in the next few days as the onset of monsoon has been slightly advanced.
The Indian Meteorological Department has predicted that the monsoon this year is most likely to be normal.