Kharif sowing continues at pace but pulse planting worrisome

Kharif sowing seems to be on track for coarse cereals, sugarcane and oilseeds, with sowing above last year’s levels and just slightly lower for cotton.

Sowing of kharif crops continued at pace even as rainfall took a breather in the last week of July, after excess rains in the previous weeks.

While sowing continued on track for coarse cereals, sugarcane and oilseeds, which is above last year’s levels as of August 4, crops including cotton, jute and pulses recorded a decline.

The overall sown area increased by 3.79 lakh hectare (lh) from 911.68 lh last year to 915.46 lh on August 4. With this, the overall crop sown area for kharif saw a marginal improvement of 0.4 percent on a year-on-year basis.

An erratic monsoon, which resulted in excess rain in some areas and deficient in many others, had been the reason for the fall in the sowing of rice crops.

India has seen a turnaround in monsoon rains, rising from a 9 percent deficit in June to registering 13 percent excess rain in July. However, the IMD has now expected it to fall deficient in August.

Also read: IMD predicts rainfall for August to fall below normal

While the sown area for rice has increased by 3.3 percent, a Barclays report published on August 3 showed that it is largely due to area sown in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, the second and the third largest rice-producing states, respectively in the country. Both received excess rainfall in early July. On the other hand, in West Bengal, the largest rice-producing state, the area sown is only 25 percent of “normal”.

Sown area for pulses continues to be worrisome

The sowing of pulses was lagging with a decline of 9.3 percent. The sowing was delayed due to patchy monsoon rainfall in producer states Maharashtra and Karnataka in July, which continues to be a matter of concern.

The sowing of arhar has been leading the downfall, with a 7.88 percent decrease in the sown area. Arhar is a type of pulse that has seen a rise in retail prices of late.

To compensate for its deficiency, the government on July 18 launched the sale of ‘subsidised’ chana dal under the brand name ‘Bharat Dal’ at the rate of Rs 60 per kg for one kg pack and Rs 55 per kg for 30 kg pack.

As per the data available on the website of the Department of Consumer Affairs, the all-India daily average retail price of tur (arhar) was recorded at Rs 135.60 per kilogramme on August 4. This is a 27.3 percent increase from the price of tur which had stood at Rs 106.5 per kilogramme a year ago.

Also Read: Persistent inflation in cereals and pulses ahead

Reservoir storage levels in line with historical trends

The increase in reservoir levels over the past few weeks seems to be following the pattern of 2021, when the country received ‘normal’ rainfall, although it remains lower than last year, the Barclays report has added.

As of August 3, storage in key reservoirs stood at 56 percent of total capacity, higher than last week’s 46 percent.

“This amounts to 93 percent of the available capacity in the year-earlier period and 111 percent of the 10-year average for this point in the season. Thus, overall storage is lower than last year, but still better than the average of the past 10 years,” the Barclays report read.

Also read: IMD’s below-normal rainfall forecast for August not a cause of worry for kharif sowing