‘Spread of rains should remove any worry on kharif sowing’

The revival of monsoon post June-27 and the spread of rains should remove any major worry on the kharif front, says Nabansu Chattopadhyay, Head, Agricultural Meteorology Division, India Met Department (IMD).

“If this factor (spread of rains) along with the sowing window is available for individual crops, things are moving at a very good pace now,” Chattopadhyay told BusinessLine by phone from Pune.

For instance, East and West Madhya Pradesh would receive widespread rainfall over the next four to five days, thanks to two rain-generating systems — one already over land and the other in the making over the sea.

Rains for Central India

The offshore trough is giving plenty of rain along the West Coast and immediate interior. So all the three monsoon features are getting activated now. Only Rayalaseema, parts of Telangana and Coastal Andhra Pradesh may sit out of the rain session.

Saurashtra and Kutch, which are basically dry areas, too have been areas of some concern. The crops here do not need much rainfall. Bajra and castor are the main crops though soyabean is also taken up here on a limited scale.

“But even here, we expect the rains to come from tomorrow (Wednesday), which is very much within the sowing window,” Chattopadhyay said.

Soyabean cut-off date

In Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, cotton and soyabean planting can be done up to the cut-off date of July 10, which is today (Tuesday). The rains have picked up there in time, making the situation significantly better when compared to June 12 to 27.

If one takes East India, which is slightly deficient now, here too the rains are returning. Rice is the main crop here. Some parts of Bengal may have been flooded, but farmers are ready with the nurseries. “So around July 15, they would start transplanting. Uttar Pradesh is bracing for a good rainfall in a few days. Punjab and Haryana were deficient but they have started sowing cotton and are transplanting rice as well.”

Chattopadhyay said he was not, however, confident about Rayalaseema, especially Anantapur, where groundnut, chilli and other cash crops are grown. There is not much rainfall to look to, but the sowing window extends to July 25.

‘July looks impressive’

“Of course, we had a problem in June, but July looks impressive as of now. I don’t have the latest sowing percentage data, but the ongoing rain makes it ideal for sowing, and I’ve reason to believe that the farmers are at it...”

Farmers in Uttar Pradesh must be readying for transplanting given the outlook for rainfall. Here again, July 10 is the usual cut-off date for soyabean and cotton.

Maharashtra has been receiving plenty of rainfall from July 3/4 and one is expecting to see ‘very significant sowing percentage’ there. Same holds true for Madhya Pradesh also, which is bracing for good rains over the next couple of days.

The North-East is a high-rainfall area but there are some rice varieties which can be transplanted after 45 days (usually it is 25 days). “So, North-East also may not present much of a problem,” Chattopadhyay said.

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