Paddy sowing up; pulses, cotton, oilseeds decline

Amid an erratic monsoon, farmers planted more paddy this kharif season, and less of pulses, cotton and oilseeds. According to agriculture ministry data released on Friday, overall kharif sowing inched up 3.6% from last year to touch 105.4 million hectares (mh).

- Puja Das

While paddy sowing rose 16.2% to 38.4 mh, pulses acreage shrank 10.6% to 11.7 mh. The fall in pulses sowing includes a 2.3% and nearly 5% drop in tur (arhar or pigeon pea) and urad (black gram) to 4.2 mh and 3.1 mh respectively, two items which recorded a jump in prices this season and jointly account for two-thirds of the kharif pulses basket. Area under moong cultivation also declined 2.7% to 3.1 mh.

Area under cotton and oilseeds shrank around 3% and 2%, respectively. Farmers cultivated cotton over 12.2 mh and kharif oilseeds on 18.8 mh, including 12.4 mh under soya bean and 4.3 mh under groundnut. Similarly, in the millet basket, the area under jowar fell 1.2% to 1.3 mh. However, farmers have been seen doubling the pace of sowing maize, followed by ragi and bajra.

Meanwhile, agriculturists cautioned that lower rainfall in August, coupled with falling reservoir levels, may hurt yields.

"Deficit rainfall during June led to delayed sowing, which pushed the crop calendar of pulses, cotton, paddy and maize to be in the vegetative phase in August, and now the below-normal precipitation is estimated to have a negative impact on yields owing to poor vegetative growth, pest infestations and problematic flower setting in different crops," said Pushan Sharma, director–research, Crisil Market Intelligence and Analytics.