Cotton area slows down while soyabean remains constant with farmers in Maharashtra
State agriculture department’s sowing report shows that the state has reported 53.54 lakh hectares of total sowing as of June 25. Last year the same was at 61.68 lakh hectares, with cotton reporting the maximum dip.
One of the main reasons why sowing has slowed down is the fear in the minds of farmers about a long gap in the monsoon. At the end of the third week of June, the area of cotton sown has shrunk, while sowing of soybean has increased compared to last year’s figures in Maharashtra. After an early start, the monsoon has lagged behind but farmers are not unduly worried about moisture stress for their crops.
State agriculture department’s sowing report shows that the state has reported 53.54 lakh hectares of total sowing as of June 25. Last year the same was at 61.68 lakh hectares, with cotton reporting the maximum dip. Last year 22.30 lakh hectares of farm land was under the lint crop, which this year has crossed 18.29 lakh hectares. Soybean sowing has happened over 22.21 lakh hectares against 24.07 lakh hectares in 2024. Pulses have been sown over 16.03 lakh hectares which compared to 15.31 lakh hectares last year.
One of the main reasons why sowing has slowed down is the fear in the minds of farmers about a long gap in the monsoon. After a quick and very vigorous start, the monsoon had taken a long break in Maharashtra as well as the country. The India Meteorological Department (IMD)’s report showed Maharashtra had 10 percent excess rainfall- against the normal 170 mm of rainfall, the state has reported 187.33 mm of rainfall.
Most of the rainfall has happened either in the first week of June, with the second and third weeks being exceptionally dry. The northern limit of the monsoon was stuck at Ahilyanagar for a very long time. At present, the monsoon has surged ahead. As of Thursday, monsoon has covered almost all of the country barring a small area in Rajasthan and Haryana.
May had seen the country on the whole receiving exceptionally good rains. But the state agriculture universities had cautioned farmers about their sowing activities. Most farmers have thus decided to wait till June 15 to start their activities after ample rainfall is reported. At present the condition of all the crops is satisfactory with no danger of resowing being reported from any part of the state. However farmers have expressed worry that in case the monsoon rainfall does not pick up, the danger might loom larger than ever.
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