Widespread rains that lashed most parts of the the country in the last few days have helped farmers make up for the shortfall in sowing with planting of rice, pulses and oilseeds gathering momentum.

But monsoon rainfall was still on an average 7 per cent lower than that compared to the long period average for the corresponding period.

According to kharif crop sowing data released by the Agriculture Ministry, a total of 855 lakh hectares (lh) has been brought under cultivation till Friday as against an area of 870 lh covered during the corresponding period last year.

Soya, rice up

A nearly 11 per cent increase in soyabean cultivation to 110 lh (99 lh) pushed up the area under oilseeds cultivation to 158 lh, which was 5.78 per cent higher than the corresponding period last kharif season.

There has been a substantial spurt in rice planting with the area jumping to 263 lh — 4.17 per cent lower than the 274 lh logged during the same period last year.

 

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Pulses coverage

Pulses too registered a significant improvement in sowing with deficit shrinking to less than 4 per cent to around 116 lh as compared to the same time previous kharif season.

The area under both arhar and moongbean has improved, while urad acreage is languishing at 32.5 lh, down by 11 per cent from last year’s 36.65 lh. The spurt in maize and jowar cultivation, on the other hand, helped coarse cereals to close the gap with the deficit coming down to 2.90 per cent at 155 lh.

Bajra too witnessed a rise in acreage but at 55 lh, it is 13 per cent lower than that in the corresponding week last year, the official data showed.

The area under cotton cultivation too was marginally lower at 102.5 lh, mainly on account of shortfall in cultivation in Punjab and Karnataka.

Good monsoon rains have helped not only in the coverage of crops but also in improving water levels in major reservoirs in the country.

Storage levels rise

According to the Central Water Commission, which monitors 91 major reservoirs in the country, cumulative water availability in these reservoirs 73.47 billion cubic metres (BCM), which is 10 per cent more than the live storage of corresponding period last year.

Thanks to bountiful rains this season, reservoirs in South India, which account a third of the water bodies monitored in the country, have 62 per cent of their total capacity filled as against 28 per cent during the corresponding period last year.

In all other regions, the live water storage was lower than that in the previous year, the worst being North India where the cumulative water storage was 33 per cent as against 61 per cent during the corresponding week last year.

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