The sowing of pulses continued to lag, with most regions of the country facing below-normal rainfall, in line with IMD predictions made for August.
The total sown area of pulses is down by almost eight percent as of August 11, year on year. Sowing was delayed due to patchy monsoon rainfall in producer states of Maharashtra and Karnataka in June. As rains picked up, while there was some increase in acreage, the overall numbers have continued to remain low.
The slow sowing of arhar, urad and moong together are causing the downfall. While sown area for arhar is down by 5.35 percent, that for urad and moong is down by 13.4 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively.
Arhar is a type of pulse that has seen a steep spike in retail prices of late. As per the data available on the website of the Department of Consumer Affairs, there has been a 32 percent rise in its prices on year.
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.
Also Read: Government closely monitoring prices of cereals, will take steps as and when needed: MoS Agri
Sowing on track for other crops
The sowing for paddy has continued at pace, registering an increase of almost five percent as on August 11. Its sown area has increased from 312 lakh hectare on the same date last year to 328 lakh hectare now.
Sowing has also continued on track for coarse cereals, sugarcane and oilseeds, which is above last year’s levels as of August 11. Cotton however, has is seeing a marginal drop of 1 percent.
The data comes when kharif sowing of cotton, coarse cereals, sugarcane and oilseeds is close to completion.
“For rice, sowing is nearly complete in in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab (where sowing is 95 percent-plus of normal and target area), but lagging in West Bengal by a wider margin at only 40 percent, given deficient rainfall so far in the state,” as per a Barclay analysis.
As of August 10, storage in key reservoirs stood at 60 nearly percent of total capacity, higher than last week’s 56 percent.
Also read: Government to sell more wheat, rice in open market to cool prices
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