September rains ease fears about Rabi

With sowing for the Kharif season drawing to a close, acreage this year is a little more than 1 per cent higher than at the corresponding period last year.

Area under crops such as rice, soyabean, cotton and a range of pulses have touched 1,026.23 lakh hectares (lh) as of Thursday, as per the latest estimates released by the Agriculture Ministry.

A resurgent monsoon through September has helped reduce the rainfall deficit and fear of food prices shooting up. It has helped reservoir levels recover – although the situation in the South remains a matter of concern – and also improved sentiments about the Rabi season.

Earlier this week, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh told reporters that the target for Rabi output had been increased by 1.6 per cent from last year to 132.78 million tonnes (mt).

“The monsoon deficit is expected to narrow further as there good rains in most parts over the last few days. Soil moisture has improved and this will help crop planting,” he said.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) data, the rainfall deficit had come down to 12 per cent from 15-16 per cent last week. Total rainfall received between June 1 and September 23 is estimated at 747.9 millimeters, while 16 out of 36 sub-stations have recorded deficient rain.

“A depression brought rain to Central India and this should weaken while the South is likely to get good rain over Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala over the next two days,” said an IMD official.

Water levels in 91 major reservoirs are pegged at 95.31 billion cubic metres (bcm). This is 60 per cent of total storage capacity and 23 per cent lower than the average storage of the last 10 years.

“It’s unlikely that there will be a late increase in area but this rain will help the sown crops and help realise a normal yield in places that bore the brunt of the earlier dry spell,” said a government source.

Pulses recorded a significant rise in acreage with the total area sown at 113.45 lh – about 11.4 per cent higher than last year. Moong and urad areas are higher by 9.5 per cent and 20.5 per cent, respectively.

The area under rice, the main Kharif foodgrain, is marginally higher than last year. Cotton and groundnut have recorded lower coverage.

According to the Ministry’s early estimate, production of foodgrains – which includes rice, pulses and coarse cereals – is expected to decline by 1.8 per cent to 124.05 million tonnes (mt) this year from 126.31 mt last year.