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With the monsoon covering two-thirds of the country by mid-June ahead of schedule, planting of key kharif crops such as rice, oilseeds and cotton has picked up.
The sowing may get a further boost as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday maintained that the South-West monsoon will be normal for July and August – the two key months for planting and growth of kharif crops.
Rainfall for the country as a whole is likely to be 98 per cent of the long period average of 89 cm for the June to September period.
Total acreage
However, the total kharif acreage so far is lower than last year, largely on account of shortfall in sugarcane acreage, as drought in parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka had led to poor planting.
rice acreage
Meanwhile, transplanting of rice has picked up in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, while it is sluggish in Odisha and Assam among others compared with last year.
Total rice acreage, so far, is lower by about 10,000 hectare area (ha) over the last year.
oilseeds
The area under oilseeds is marginally higher than last year, as planting of groundnut and soyabean has commenced in the key growing States of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
Karnataka has seen a higher planting of oilseeds such as groundnut, sunflower, soyabean and sesame, accounting for close to two-thirds of the planted area so far.
more rains
The timely arrival of monsoon and good rainfall distribution has resulted in 28 per cent more rains so far since June 1.
Of the 36 meteorological sub-divisions, 27 have received excess rains, while four have received normal and two are deficient so far.
The latest forecast by the weather department of normal monsoon for July and August should augur well for kharif crops.
Cotton area rises
So far, cotton acreage has also seen a marginal increase over last year as farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are planting more area under the fibre crop.
Andhra has reported a higher area of 1.13 lakh ha under cotton, while in Karnataka the acreage is up by about half a lakh hectares over the last year at 1.26 lakh ha.
In North India, planting is almost complete and the key States – Punjab and Haryana – have reported a marginally lower acreage.
In Punjab, cotton acreage is lower by 13,000 ha over last year at 5.03 lakh ha, while Haryana has seen a shortfall of 29,000 ha at 4.86 lakh ha.
Other Northern States – Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh – have also seen a marginal shortfall over last year.
In Gujarat, cotton planting is yet to gain momentum and the acreage so far is lower by about 50,000 ha, while Maharashtra is yet to report the numbers.
vishwanath.kulkarni@thehindu.co.in
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