Paddy sowing has increased in a number of States, including Haryana, Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, with the monsoon spreading to most parts of the country in the last week of June. Paddy acreage increased substantially with total transplants and nursery sowing of seeds in June reaching 47.7 lakh hectares, the same level as last year.

Experts say that with monsoon rains expected to recover further in July as predicted by the India Meteorological Department, sowing of rice would stay on course and reaching the targeted 389 lakh hectares may not be a problem.

“In States such as Punjab and Haryana, there are ample irrigation facilities which take care of paddy transplanting even when rains are not enough. Other States such as West Bengal, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh do depend on rains, and they seem to be getting it,” pointed out grain analyst Tejinder Narang.

Better yields Although rice sowing in June this year is lower than the average of the previous five years of the same month at 59.61 lakh hectares, Narang said that a comparison with sowing in the last five years may not show the right picture as over the years yields go up and the same crop can be grown on lesser area.

Sowing of rice in Punjab jumped to 14.37 lakh hectares till June 30, 2016, compared to 11.67 lakh hectares last year. In Haryana, rice sowing in June covered 6 lakh hectares (4.5 lakh hectares last year).

The area covered under rice increased in the South with the peninsula receiving 22 per cent surplus rainfall during the month.

Acreage up in South In Tamil Nadu, rice acreage was at 1.16 lakh hectares in June 2016 (0.80 lakh hectares).

In Andhra Pradesh, rice was sown on 0.45 lakh hectares (0.33 lakh hectares), while transplantation in Telangana stood at 0.22 lakh hectares (0.16 lakh hectares). In Karnataka, however, rice sowing in June 2016 was over 1.3 lakh hectares, marginally lower than the 1.42 lakh hectares in June 2015.

In Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, the top two States in terms of rice acreage, sowing was at 3.96 lakh hectares and 1.12 lakh hectares respectively in June this year, which was moderately higher than the acreage in the same month last year.

In States such as Odisha, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, coverage of rice sowing in June 2016 at 3.54 lakh hectares, 0.18 lakh hectares and 1.81 lakh hectares was lower than the acreage in the same month last year.

Rice production in India is about 105 million tonnes annually, mostly in the kharif season. India accounts for over a fourth of global rice production.

Published on July 5, 2016