Summer crop sowing sees marginal uptick; rice area declines, pulses gain

New Delhi: India’s summer crop sowing has edged up marginally so far this season, with higher acreage under pulses, coarse cereals and oilseeds offsetting a sharp decline in rice, amid concerns over input supplies following the war in West Asia.

Total area under summer crops stood at 5.82 million hectares as of 3 April, up from 5.78 million hectares a year earlier, according to data released by the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare. The increase, though modest, comes even as paddy sowing lagged, masking divergent trends across crop categories.

The normal summer cropping area, based on averages from 2022-23 to 2024-25, is 7.53 million hectares, indicating scope for further expansion in the coming weeks.

The summer (zaid) season, which runs from March to June between the rabi and kharif cycles, typically depends on irrigation and involves short-duration crops.

Crop acreage

The decline in rice was offset by gains in other crops. Pulses acreage rose to 879,000 hectares from 702,000 hectares last year, led by green gram and black gram. Area under coarse cereals (“Shree Anna”) increased by 87,000 hectares to 1.16 million hectares, with bajra and maize driving the expansion even as jowar declined slightly.

Oilseed acreage rose by 31,000 hectares to 774,000 hectares, with groundnut leading gains while sesamum edged lower.

The data points to a gradual shift in cropping patterns towards less water-intensive crops.

Notwithstanding the slow sowing, experts believe activity will pick up in the coming days.

“Sowing of summer crops is expected to accelerate in the coming days, and there are no concerns about it falling below last year’s levels. The initial delay was due to unfavourable weather, but activity is set to pick up pace soon,” a senior official in the agriculture department said.

According to the government, fertilizer stocks are sufficient to meet demand for early kharif sowing.

Food grain stocks

Food grain stocks in the central pool remain substantial. The total stocks of rice and wheat held by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies stood at 60.1 million tonnes as on 28 February. Of this, wheat stocks were at 23.62 million tonnes while rice stocks were at 36.47 million tonnes.

The surplus position gives the government room to stabilize prices and intervene in the market when needed, but raises concerns over higher storage costs and the need for efficient stock management.