Delayed rains in Central India have farmers worried

Farmers in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and parts of Maharashtra are a worried lot as the ‘monsoon watch’ gets longer in the key growing regions, affecting the sowing of kharif crops.

According to the latest available data, farmers in Gujarat have completed sowing on about 8.71 lakh hectares, which is more than double the 2.74 lakh hectares sown by about the same time last year. The State received rains in patches at the beginning of June, but in the absence of a strong weather system, the showers were not sustained.

At stake is the fate of cotton and groundnut crops, sowing for which had been done on 496,400 hectares and 249,100 hectares, respectively, as on June 20. Sowing of pulses is complete in over 10,000 hectares, which is less than last year.

Farmers in Gujarat are a worried lot. A further delay in rains will damage the seeds already sown. Many farmers in Saurashtra and North Gujarat had taken up early sowing with availability of irrigation facilities. But a delayed monsoon will disturb the crop cycle and possibly require re-sowing in some cases.

In Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, sowing has slowed down as farmers await rains. In its latest statement, the oil trade body, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), has expressed the possibility of a delay in the sowing of soybean in these States.

“The monsoon is not developing in a normal way, and its advance may bypass the key soybean-producing regions in Madhya Pradesh and Eastern Maharashtra, which may not get adequate rains in June. This may delay sowing,” Atul Chaturvedi, President, SEA, wrote in a letter to the members.

Th India Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted a normal monsoon in 2017, raising hopes of bumper production during the kharif season.

“The IMD during the current year has highlighted the ‘peculiar’ progress of the monsoon which can have far-reaching consequences for our oilseed crops. Because of this peculiar movement, the monsoon seems to be travelling directly from the south to the north bypassing the central part of India,” Chaturvedi said.

The IMD, meanwhile, has not issued any weather warning for Gujarat and Maharashtra for the next five days.

According to the five-day weather forecast as on June 21, Gujarat may see isolated rains in most parts, and scattered rains in the subsequent days.

Madhya Maharashtra will have scattered and fairly widespread rains going forward, and Vidarbha and Marathwada are likely to have scattered to fairly widespread rains.

While East Madhya Pradesh is likely to have fairly widespread rains over the next three-four days, West Madhya Pradesh may have scattered or isolated rainfall over the next five days.

Cotton expert Arun Dalal maintained that the monsoon delay has damaged the cotton sown earlier. Nationally, about 15-16 lakh hectare of area has been covered under cotton so far.

“The monsoon delay is damaging for cotton farmers who had started sowing. Without availability of water, the seeds will get spoiled. The situation is the same in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra,” said Dalal.

Meanwhile, a farmer in Rajkot district said, “We took early cotton this year, anticipating timely and good rains. But after two days of early showers, there have been no rains.”

This, he said, “is a worrisome scenario because without water, the early sowing will go to waste and we will have to spend again on seeds for resowing.”

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