The 24 per cent deficit in South-West Monsoon rains so far has resulted in delayed planting of key kharif crops such as paddy, cotton, oilseeds, pulses and coarse cereals.
The country has so far received cumulative rainfall of 73.7 mm for the June 1-21 period against the normal 96.9 mm.
Except for sugarcane, the acreage under other kharif crops has declined. Planting of paddy, the water-intensive crop, is down by 4.41 lakh hectares for the first three weeks at 18.70 lakh hectares over the corresponding last year. The planting of paddy is delayed in key States such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha and Assam, according to data from the Agriculture Ministry.
Cotton, a key commercial crop, has been planted on 21 lakh hectares, of which 18.47 is under the transgenic Bt variety. The overall area so far is lower by 3.58 lakh hectares across the country. Key States such as Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh have seen a decline in acreage, whereas Andhra Pradesh it has increased 1.04 lakh hectares.
The sluggish progress of monsoon has also affected oilseed acreage. Groundnut has been sown in an area of 2.19 lakh hectares, down 0.24 lakh hectares over last year, while soyabean coverage is down to 0.13 lakh hectares (0.50 hectares last year). The total shortfall in kharif oilseed area is pegged at 1.48 lakh hectares over previous year.
The area under coarse cereals such as bajra, jowar and millets has also seen a decline so far though States such as Assam, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh have reported higher acreage. Karnataka, with a shortfall of 1.65 lakh hectares, leads the list of States that have seen a drop in area under coarse cereals.
In pulses acreage, Karnataka has seen an increase of 1.31 lakh hectares, accounting for a major chunk of the 1.44 lakh hectares covered so far. In Andhra Pradesh, the sowing of pulses is yet to pick up.
Higher sugarcane area has been reported in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. However, Karnataka has reported a drop in area under cane, as farmers have switched over to other alternate crops over not receiving timely payment from the sugar mills.