SOWING OF KHARIF RICE, COARSE CEREALS
AND OIL-SEEDS STARTS
With the advancement
of Monsoon to Kerala and the North-East, sowing of Kharif rice
has started. The Crop Weather Watch Group(CWWG) of the Agriculture
Ministry has reported that the total area coverage so far is 7.82
lakh hectares compared to 8.54 lakh hectares during the corresponding
period last year. The normal area under Kharif rice is about 406
lakh hectares. Major Kharif Rice growing States(with respective
normal area in lakh hectares) are Uttar Pradesh(59.3), Orissa(42.1),
West Bengal(43.9), Bihar(44.6), Chhattisgarh(36), Andhra Pradesh(28.9),
Assam(23), Punjab(26), Tamil Nadu(19.3) and Madhya Pradesh(16.7).
Sowing of Kharif
coarse cereals has also started. Total area coverage reported
is 3.64 lakh hectares compared to last year’s sowing of 4.39 lakh
hectares in the corresponding period. Important Kharif coarse
cereals( with their respective normal area in lakh hectares) are
Bajra (93), Jowar (49), Maize (58), and others (32). About 78%
of Coarse Cereals area is sown in the Kharif season.
Sowing of sugar
cane is continuing satisfactorily. Area coverage so far is about
35.3 lakh hectares as compared to 34 lakh hectares covered in
the corresponding period last year. Sowing in Maharashtra, Karnataka
and Andhra Pradesh is progressing at a normal pace. However, sowing
in Tamil Nadu is lagging behind by about 50 thousand hectares
from last year’s acreage in the corresponding period. Overall
sugarcane area is likely to be marginally less than the normal.
Acreage increase in the largest sugarcane producing state of Uttar
Pradesh is about 60 thousand hectares from last year’s acreage
in the corresponding period. Uttar Pradesh, Maharasthra, Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are major sugarcane producing states
with respective normal areas of 19, 5.7, 3.8, 3.1 and 2.2 lakh
hectares.
Sowing of jute
crop is complete. As per the latest reports from the States, area
sown is 7.5 lakh hectares, at par with last year’s area sown in
the corresponding period. Normal area under jute is 8.4 lakh hectares.
West Bengal is a major jute producing state with a normal area
of 6.1 lakh hectares. About 5.7 lakh hectares has been covered
in West Bengal which is at par with last year’s sowing in the
corresponding period. Acreage under jute in West Bengal is expected
to be normal.
Sowing of cotton
is near completion in Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. Maharashtra,
Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana
and Madhya Pradesh are major cotton producing States with respective
normal area of 31.8,16, 11.1, 5.8, 5.8, 5, 5.6 and 5 lakh hectares.
Normal area under cotton is about 89 lakh hectares. As per the
latest reports from the States, area sown under cotton so far
is 8.98 lakh hectares against 9.21 lakh hectares reported to be
covered last year in the corresponding period.
Kharif Oilseeds
account for nearly 65% of the total oilseeds area and about 60%
of the total oilseeds production in the country. Important Kharif
Oilseeds (with their respective normal area in hectares) are Groundnut
(58.2), Soyabean (63.8), Sesamum (16.4), Sunflower (5.8), Niger
(4.9) and Castor(8.5). Sowing of Groundnut, Sesamum, Sunflower,
Soyabean and Castor has commenced.
