The Hindu Business Line : Scanty rainfall slows down rice, cane sowing

POOR rainfall in June has brought about a tardy progress in sowing of rice even as sugarcane acreage continues to lag behind during the current kharif season.

With central parts of the country experiencing rains since Friday, sowing is expected to accelerate from the coming weeks, according to agriculture analysts.

According to an Agriculture Ministry statement, sowing in rice has declined compared to the same period a year ago. Area under rice is down to 33.5 lakh hectares (lha) against 35.5 lha. Two weeks ago, sowing in rice was up compared to last year. A dry spell during the last week of June has contributed to the slow progress in rice sowing.

Bajra, too, has witnessed a downtrend but this is mainly growers shifting to oilseeds, particularly soyabean in central India. "Those who cultivate bajra last year did not get good prices. So, they are shifting to crops such as soyabean," Mr Sunil Mukhati, a grower in Malwa district of Madhya Pradesh said. Area under bajra has declined to 10.3 lha (11.4 lha).

However, there has been at least 50 per cent rise in the area under maize (corn) mainly since the farmers received good prices last year. So far, 14.1 lha have been brought under the crop against 9.7 lha last year. Total coverage under coarse cereals so far has been 32.3 lha (28.4).

Sugarcane coverage has declined on account of drought in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra last year. Even in UP, where the area was expected to go up, the sowing is lagging behind. So far, 36.9 lha have been brought under sugarcane against 45 lha last year.

Area under jute has declined, while in the case of mesta, it is almost the same as last year.

Oilseeds seem to be the flavour of the growers this kharif with the area almost doubling to 21.24 lha (10.85). Coverage of soyabean, sunflower and castor have increase manifold, while groundnut, too, has shown an increase.

Pulses sowing has been slow off the block with 3.14 lha covered against 0.96 lha last year.

Meanwhile, water storage in the 71 major reservoirs continues to be higher than last year by 65 per cent. It is also eight per cent higher than the averages storage during the last 10 years.

Water availability, according to the Agriculture Ministry, is 24.58 billion cubic metres (BCM) up by 9.68 BCM over last year. The water storage position is better in view of good pre-monsoon rains.

However, Sriramsagar, Somasila (both Andhra Pradesh), Gandhi Sagar (Madhya Pradesh), Jayakwadi (Paithon), Bhima (all Maharashtra) and Ramganga (Uttar Pradesh) do not have any utilisable water.

More Stories on : Cultivation | Oilseeds & Edible Oil | Rice

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