Kharif-sown area shrinks by over 20% after delayed and deficient monsoon rainfall

The kharif-sown area this monsoon season has fallen significantly below last year's level, covering 35.08 million hectares, which is 9.2 million hectares less than a year earlier, Union agriculture and farmers' welfare minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Wednesday.

The over 20% shortfall is primarily due to the delayed onset of the southwest monsoon, which affected the sowing of soybean and cotton, the minister told the media after a high-level review meeting. To mitigate the impact, farmers have been advised to shift to short-duration and low water-intensive crops such as maize, bajra and moong.

A weak monsoon may cut paddy acreage, Mint reported on 4 July. However, Chouhan expressed optimism, noting that the overall rainfall deficit has now narrowed to 24% after a 33% shortfall in June. The number of rainfall-deficient districts declined from 262 to 178 following recent spells of good rainfall.

The Centre is monitoring the situation in the major agricultural states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal and Odisha. The minister said he expects rainfall to strengthen during July, helping to accelerate kharif sowing.

The India Meteorological Department has forecast monsoon rainfall at 90% of the long period average this year due to El Niño.

The government said it had begun preparations in April, with district-level contingency plans formulated in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. It has maintained a national seed reserve of about 175,000 quintals to ensure uninterrupted sowing and has intensified efforts to expand coverage under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and Kisan Credit Card scheme.

Chouhan said the government remains fully prepared to tackle weather-related challenges through continuous monitoring of the monsoon’s progress, crop conditions and market trends, while ensuring timely support to farmers during the ongoing kharif season.

Favourable conditions

The monsoon has strengthened over the past week, advancing into additional parts of Gujarat, and covering more areas in Haryana and Punjab. It is expected to cover the entire country within the next 2-3 days.

The weather office said conditions are favourable for the monsoon to advance into the remaining parts of the north Arabian Sea, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, completing its nationwide coverage.

“The recent rainfall is expected to improve soil moisture levels and support ongoing kharif sowing. Nevertheless, since monsoon rainfall is expected to stay below normal, the temporal and spatial distribution of rainfall for the rest of the season will be a key monitorable," said Pushan Sharma, director of Crisil Intelligence.

However, according to Sharma, a prolonged rainfall deficit during critical crop growth stages could impact kharif paddy yields, particularly during flowering. This could tighten supplies from key producing states such as Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.

India has comfortable levels of foodgrain stocks as of now. The central pool foodgrain stocks in Food Corporation of India godowns stand robust at 81.75 million tonnes, much above the buffer norms of 21 million tonnes. This includes 38.95 million tonnes of rice (buffer norm is 13.58 million tonnes) and 42.8 million tonnes of wheat against the buffer norm of 21 million tonnes as of 1 May.