MC Daily Monsoon Tracker: Kharif sowing just 2% higher as rains remain uneven

Kharif sowing just 2 percent up compared with 2023

The sowing of Kharif crops such as rice, groundnut, pulses and sugarcane as was just 2 percent higher as of July 26 from the pervious year, as the uneven spread of monsoon rains continued across the country.

The country received surplus rain for the sixth straight day on July 28, India Metrological Department (IMD) data released on July 28 says. The country registered 2.7 percent higher than normal rainfall compared with 2.62 percent on the previous day.

Twenty-six states have had normal or above normal rainfall, with 16 getting normal rain conditions and 10 experiencing excessive rains.

Ten states, mostly in the Northwest and east, are still rain deficient.

Normal rain is calculated using a long-period average of 30 years for a specific region.

Though reservoir deficit has narrowed, Punjab, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh still face a shortfall of more than 50 percent.

Kharif sowing coverage as of July 26 was just 2.3 percent higher than the previous year but rice sowing was flat from the previous year. Sowing of pulses was up 14 percent from the previous year.

The finance minister in her Budget speech expanded the mission on pulses and oilseeds to make India self-sufficient.

The government is hoping for a revival of the farm sector, which recorded a 1.4 percent growth in FY24 against 4.7 percent in the previous year, which is also lower than the 3.7 percent long-term average.