Low rainfall impact: Pulse sowing continues to lag, with a drop of 8.5% YoY

The delayed sowing of arhar, urad, and moong are responsible for the reduction in the area under pulse cultivation. (Representative Image)

Kharif sowing of pulses continued to lag with overall sowing remaining stable as compared to last year amid lower rainfall recorded so far in the country, latest data released by Ministry of Agriculture showed.

The total sown area of pulses is down 8.5 percent as of September 9, year-on-year (YoY). The total area of pulse cultivation had fallen last year too, by as much as 11.26 percent.

The rainfall has been deficient in most parts of the country over the past week with weak monsoon rains remained in the first week of September. Over the past week, rainfall in the northwest, central and eastern regions ranged was largely deficient; however, the southern peninsula region received excess rainfall, particularly in the state of Telangana.

Cumulatively, the country’s rainfall level is now 11 percent below the LPA for 1 June-7 September. All four major regions are now facing deficit rainfall, and with IMD’s forecast for ‘normal’ rainfall for most parts of the country in September (barring the eastern region), the rainfall deficit may not be reversed completely in the rest of the season.

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The delayed sowing of arhar, urad, and moong are responsible for the reduction in the area under pulse cultivation. While sown area for arhar is down about 6 percent, for urad and moong it is down 14 and 7.6 percent, respectively.

The sowing of paddy has continued apace, registering an increase of more than 2.7 percent as on September 9. Its sown area has increased from 392.81 lakh hectare on the same date last year to 403 lakh hectare now.

Sowing has also continued on track for coarse cereals such as Bajra, Ragi Maize; sugarcane and oilseeds, which are at par with last year’s levels as of September 9. Cotton, however, has seen a marginal drop of 1.4 percent.

The data comes when the kharif sowing of cotton, coarse cereals, sugarcane, and oilseeds is close to completion.

Reservoir run low

Reservoir levels declined again over the past week, and as of September 6, storage in key reservoirs stood at 62 percent, versus 63 percent the previous week. This is also lower than last year’s level at this stage of the monsoon season (74 percent of available capacity) and lower than the historical average for this point in the season (current levels are 84 percent of the 10-year average).

The drop in reservoir levels is now a material concern for the rabi winter crop, and may also spark fears of water rationing going into the festive season.