The Hindu Business Line : Kharif sowing gathers pace

With the South-West monsoon enveloping the entire country and recording above-normal performance so far, there has been a further pick-up in kharif sowing operations. Farmers have planted more area under virtually every crop, barring paddy.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the country on the whole has received an area-weighted rainfall of 471 millimetres (mm) during the current monsoon season (June-September) till August 1. This is 3.4 per cent higher than the ‘normal’ long period average of 455.6 mm historically recorded for this period.

Rainfall surplus

While the period from June 1 to 27 registered an overall rainfall surplus of 7.4 per cent, the subsequent period till August 1 has seen the surplus narrow down to 1.6 per cent. “We had a dry spell during the second and third week of July. As a result, July received an area-weighted rainfall of 285.8 mm, which was 2.6 per cent below the long period average of 293.3 mm. But on the whole, the temporal spread of the rains have been good”, said an IMD official.

Even in terms of spatial distribution, as many as 31 out of the country’s 36 meteorological sub-divisions have recorded normal to excess rainfall so far.

Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which were going through a prolonged deficient phase, have witnessed excellent rains over the last ten days or so.

Monsoon revival

Moreover, the IMD has forecast a revival of monsoon activity over central and adjoining peninsular India in the coming days with the formation of a low pressure area over north-west Bay of Bengal.

The end-result of all this has been a step-up in acreages for oilseeds, coarse cereals (particularly bajra and maize), pulses, cotton and sugarcane, with only rice and jute marginally lagging behind.

Growth phase

Even the picture vis-À-vis rice may change with the recent good rains in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. If the August rains, too, turn out good as per the IMD’s indications, the higher sowings could translate into a healthy growth phase as well, leading to a bumper kharif harvest and a further easing of inflationary pressures.

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