The Union Agriculture Minister Mr Sharad Pawar today said that there has been a delay in monsoon rains, but it is too early to predict impact on kharif sowing.
“Yes, monsoon has been delayed. But it would be too early to say its impact on sowing,” Mr Pawar told PTI while replying to a question whether sowing of kharif crops has been hit due to delay in monsoon.
He noted that monsoon was delayed in June in 2008, but rains picked up in July-August. “It happened in 2008. June had gone dry but July and August received substantial rains“.
Asked whether delay in monsoon is a cause of worry, Mr Pawar said: “I will be able to say in the last week of this month“.
The minister said that farmers have started preparing fields for paddy sowing in some parts of the country.
Besides paddy, other major kharif crops are pulses, oilseeds and cotton.
South-west monsoon, the lifeline of Indian agriculture, had reached Kerala on June 5, four days later than the normal date of June 1. It further advanced mainly along the west coast and over north eastern states on June 6. The country received 32 per cent less rainfall during the first week of June.
Monsoon rains are crucial for agriculture as only 40 per cent of the cultivable area is under irrigation. The farm sector contributes about only 15 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but it employs about 60 per cent of India’s population.
On the back of good monsoon in 2010 and 2011, the country harvested a record foodgrains production of 245 million tonnes and 252.56 million tonnes, respectively.
Out of 36 meteorological subdivisions, the rainfall has been excess over 4, normal over 5, deficient over 6, scanty over 20 and no rain over 1 sub-division. North eastern states have received excess rainfall during the period, as per the data compiled by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).