Kharif crops: India
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Total area under kharif crops: 2013-15
The Times of India, Jul 20 2015
Vishwa Mohan & Amit Bhattacharya
Kharif crop reaps the benefit of good monsoon, sown area up 62%
The total area under kharif crops was 966.25 lakh hectares in 2014, a significan drop from the 998 lakh hec tares achieved in 2013. The poor sowing was mainly due o a weak monsoon, with rains ending 12% below normal, which eventually resulted in 5.25% less grain production during 2014-15 as ompared to 2013-14.
The sowing trend so far points to a better kharif crop in 2015, although the output would also depend on how ains perform in the rest of the season till September 2015.
Besides the good rains, the well dispersed kharif sowing an also be attributed to contin ency measures taken to insu ate the crop from the vagaries f monsoon. These measures nclude seed subsidy and con tant sharing of scientific inputs based on amount as well as patial distribution of rainfall.
2015: Sown area goes up
The Times of India, Sep 05 2015
Vishwa Mohan
Sown area of Kharif goes up in 2015
Overall monsoon rainfall deficit this year is higher than the corresponding period last year, but the sown area under kharif (summer) crops has reported an improvement with some of the crops -including pulses and sugarcane -even exceeding their normal sown area. Latest data, released by the agriculture ministry on Friday, showed that the area under kharif crop touched 998.67 lakh hectares as compared to 979.40 lakh hectares this time last year.
Though overall production will depend on other factors including distribution of rainfall till the end of this month and timely availability of other inputs like fertilizer, the area under kharif crop appears to be encouraging as it has already covered nearly 95% of the normal sowing area of 1,050 lakh hectares.
It is expected that the overall sown area may increase further as nearly three weeks of sowing operation is still left.
Exceeding of sown area of pulses (108.37 lakh hectares) than its normal sown area of 108 lakh hectares is a good sign. It is also in tune with the Centre's call to increase the area under pulses as the country has to depend on import to meet its domestic demand.
The Centre had, in fact, increased the minimum support price for pulses before he beginning of this year's sowing operation so that armers may find it attractive over paddy or coarse cereals.
The overall performance of kharif sowing operation as compared to last year (when he country had reported 12% deficit of monsoon rainfall) can, however, also be attributed to the contingency measures, like diesel subsidy scheme and others, taken by he Centre keeping in mind he prediction of `below normal' rainfall by IMD in June.
2017; 2018: Below normal monsoon, but farmers may not be hit
Below normal monsoon, but farmers may not be hit, August 3, 2018: The Times of India
From: Below normal monsoon, but farmers may not be hit, August 3, 2018: The Times of India
Monsoon in 2018 is likely to end up ‘below normal’ but a fairly good rainfall distribution may still favour a good kharif crop, as per the India Meteorological Department’s update on Friday that has forecast 95% rains in August and September as compared to the long period average (LPA).
The national weather forecaster said the “scenario of favourable distribution of rainfall is expected to continue” for the rest of the monsoon season which will “remain favourable for agricultural operations”. On the back of good rains in the past week in the paddy-growing areas of UP and Bihar, the total sown area under kharif on Friday exceeded the normal for the corresponding week by 1.4%.
IMD said August is likely to get rains at 96% of LPA, two percentage points more than what the agency had forecast earlier. The forecast has a 9% margin of error. This implies that IMD expects 93% rainfall in September, and 95% for the entire season, which would put this year’s monsoon in below-normal range (90%-96%).
“You may infer it (below-normal monsoon for the season), but it is difficult to say anything at this juncture. With the +/-8% model error for the two-month forecast, it may swing to either side. We cannot go beyond what we had predicted earlier for the season (97% of the LPA) at this juncture,” Mrutyunjaya Mohapatra, additional director general of IMD, told TOI.
The monsoon is in a weak phase at the moment but east and northeastern states are likely to get “normal to above normal” till August 8, IMD’s forecast said. In the following (till August 15), “above normal” rainfall is predicted for east, northwest and extreme south Peninsula during 9-15 August period.
Aug-Sept, 2018: Rains boost Kharif-sown area
Rains boost Kharif-sown area, September 11, 2018: The Times of India
From: Rains boost Kharif-sown area, September 11, 2018: The Times of India
In what could be a good signal to farm sector and overall economy, total sown area under kharif (summer) crops crossed the last year’s corresponding period figures for the first time during the ongoing sowing operation last week - thanks to the pace it set after receiving better rainfall in deficit areas of eastern and northeastern India in the past two weeks.
Quantitatively, the country continues to be in ‘below normal’ rainfall category reporting a total deficit of 7% as far as cumulative rainfall (June 1-September 10 period) is concerned. August was the third consecutive month of rainfall deficiency, but improved acreage can be attributed to better distribution of rainfall.
Latest sowing data, released by the agriculture ministry, shows that the increase in sown area as compared to 2017 is mainly marked by higher acreage of paddy (rice) and oilseeds. Though the acreage of pulses and coarse cereals continue to be less than the last year’s corresponding sown area figures, officials believe that the acreage of these crops too will improve as farmers still have two to three weeks of sowing operation this season.
Figures show that the total sown area under kharif crops stand at 1,041.65 lakh hectares (LH) as of last Friday as compared to 1,039.57 LH during the same period last year. “It’s a good sign as sowing remained subdued in first two months of this season due to poor rains in eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and most of the north-eastern states - mainly the paddy growing area,” said an official who has been tracking the development.
Since adequate acreage is crucial for good production of foodgrains, the higher sown area is seen as a positive development. “It’s important as we are looking at new record of foodgrain production in 2018-19 crop year (July-June) after reporting two consecutive years of record production in 2016-17 and 2017-18. High production boosts rural demand and this, in turn, drives overall economy,” said the official. Though the country as a whole reported 7% deficit in cumulative rainfall, the gap in central and north-west India narrowed during the period. The highest deficiency (24% deficit) was recorded in eastern and northeastern India. The south peninsula, on the other hand, received 2% more rains than the normal, while central India and northwest India recorded deficit of 3% and 2%, respectively.
In fact, the distribution of rainfall saw most of the country’s major reservoirs receive adequate water during the period. It’ll help sowing of irrigation-backed winter crops (rabi) during November-February period, making it a good crop year in terms of overall production.
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Kharif crops: India
