Monsoon rains will progress, too early to comment on paddy sowing: Tomar

Data from Agriculture Ministry showed that as of July 15, the paddy sowing was down by 17.4% to 128.50 lakh hectares this Kharif season as against 155.53 LH in corresponding period of previous year

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Saturday expressed hope that monsoon rains, which are crucial for Kharif sowing, will progress in the coming days and said it is too early to comment on the paddy acreage.

Data from the Ministry of Agriculture showed that as of July 15, the paddy sowing was down by 17.4 per cent to 128.50 lakh hectares (LH) this Kharif season as against 155.53 LH in the corresponding period of the previous year. However, the sowing areas of pulses, coarse cereals and oilseeds are higher by 7-9 per cent.

The weather office has forecast a normal monsoon this year.

Asked about the progress of Kharif sowing operation and lesser area under paddy so far, Tomar said: "It is too early to say anything. I hope that monsoon rains will come".

On whether a 17 per cent fall in paddy acreage will get covered, he said: "I feel that it's too early to comment. We should wait."

The minister was speaking on the sidelines of the 94th foundation day of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Former Agriculture Commissioner S K Malhotra said the window for paddy sowing is till August 10 and there is enough time to fill up the gap.

Paddy acreage has improved in the last one week compared to the previous week. Sowing was down 24 per cent as of July 8. The rains this month will be crucial to compensate for the fall in the acreage of paddy.

India received 14 per cent excess rainfall than normal for the season but states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand have witnessed deficient rains.

The rainfall deficiency in Uttar Pradesh was 65 per cent than normal with the state receiving just 77.3 mm of rainfall as against the normal of 220 mm between June 1 and July 15. In Jharkhand, the rainfall deficiency was 49 per cent while in Bihar it was 42 per cent.

In the foodgrain category, the area under coverage for pulses increased by 9 per cent to 72.66 LH from 66.69 LH in the year-ago period.

The sowing area of coarse cereals is up 8 per cent to 93.91 LH from 87.06 LH, even as the acreage of maize is down to 49.90 LH from 56.69 LH. Area under coverage for bajra jumped to 34.46 LH from 20.88 LH.

In the non-food grains category, the area under oilseeds grew 7.38 per cent to 134.04 LH from 124.83 LH. Under oilseeds, soyabean area is up 10 per cent to 99.35 LH from 90.32 LH. The cotton acreage is up 6.44 per cent so far to 102.8 LH from 96.58 LH. Sugarcane area is marginally down to 53.31 LH from 53.70 LH.

Area under jute and mesta is slightly less so far at 6.89 LH compared to 6.92 LH in the same period last year.

The total area under coverage for Kharif is up marginally to 592.11 LH as of July 15 in the ongoing Kharif season from 591.3 LH in the same period last year.

The sowing of Kharif crops begins with the onset of the southwest monsoon in June. Paddy is a major Kharif (summer-sown) crop.