Dry June hit sowing of kharif crop, late rain brings hope

The data shared by the Agriculture department talks of sowing done over 99.54 lakh hectares, as of July 11. On a year-on-year basis, the state has reported a 6 per cent shortfall with last year’s sowing being completed over 105.96 lakh hectares.

Pulses have reported the maximum dip this season with farmers taking the crop over 12.71 lakh hectares as compared to 17.54 lakh hectares of last year. (Representational Photo)

An almost dry June has left its mark in Maharashtra with the state reporting a significant shortfall in sowing of major Kharif crops. Pulses have been hit the most, with oilseeds and coarse cereals also reporting big shortfall in sowing. With the rains picking up in the past few days, farmers are hopeful that sowing activities will increase in the days to come.

The data shared by the Agriculture department talks of sowing done over 99.54 lakh hectares, as of July 11. On a year-on-year basis, the state has reported a 6 per cent shortfall with last year’s sowing being completed over 105.96 lakh hectares. Cotton and maize are the only two crops which have reported higher sowing this year.

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Pulses have reported the maximum dip this season with farmers taking the crop over 12.71 lakh hectares as compared to 17.54 lakh hectares of last year.

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Urad has suffered the most with (1.94/3.27) lakh hectares, followed by moong (2.04/2.81) lakh hectares and tur (8.45/10.45) lakh hectares. The sowing window for tur is yet to be over and farmers in the pulses-growing area of Marathwada and Vidarbha are expected to increase their acreage later. Oilseed, another major Kharif crop, has also seen a dip in sowing due to moisture concerns. Thus, against the 40.01 lakh hectares of last year, state has seen sowing of 37.38 lakh hectares. Soyabean, which alone contributes over 90 per cent of the oilseeds grown in the state, has seen a dip from 38.36 to 36.38 lakh hectares this year. However, the soyabean acreage like tur is expected to improve as the sowing window can be extended till July end.

Maize (56.80/56.18 lakh hectares) and cotton (35.83/33.81 lakh hectares) are the only two crops which have reported a slightly positive outlook. Given the better prices fetched this season, farmers in the state like other parts of the country are expected to increase their cotton and soyabean acreage at the expense of pulses and other cereals. With rains picking up in various parts of the state, acreage of these two crops are expected to go up in coming days.

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kharif crop