Kharif acreage trails last year's by 4.2 million hectares

New Delhi: Kharif sowing remained below last year's level despite improved monsoon rainfall, with farmers planting crops across 65.8 million hectares as of 17 July, down 4.2 million hectares from a year earlier, according to data from the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare.

Last year, the total area sown was 70 million hectares as of 17 July. Sowing of key kharif crops, including paddy, pulses, oilseeds and cotton, remained well below last year's levels.

Among major crops, paddy acreage was down by 141,000 hectares from a year ago, with farmers sowing the crop on 16.6 million hectares, down from 16.7 million hectares last year.

The acreage under oilseeds is also trailing, with sowing at 14.7 million hectares, down by 863,000 hectares from last year's area. Soybean acreage lagged by 502,000 hectares, while groundnut was lower by 317,000 hectares.

Area under Shri Anna (coarse cereals) stood at 11.9 million hectares, 1.51 million hectares below the last year, led by lower sowing of bajra and maize.

Pulses decline

The pulses category also witnessed a decline in acreage. Total pulses acreage stood at 6.9 million hectares, 1.2 million hectares below the last year. Arhar sowing was lower by 536,000 hectares, urdbean by 85,000 hectares, and moongbean by 297,000 hectares, reflecting slow progress in rainfed regions.

In contrast, sugarcane emerged as one of the few crops to exceed last year's acreage. Planting reached 5.7 million hectares, 86,000 hectares above last year's area. Cotton acreage stood at 9.2 million hectares, 587,000 hectares below the last year.

The overall sowing gap has narrowed in recent weeks as rainfall improved across several regions, although uneven precipitation continues to weigh on planting in parts of eastern and central India.

Agriculture experts said the sowing gap is expected to narrow if monsoon activity intensifies in the coming weeks. However, prolonged rainfall deficiency in major rainfed states could affect acreage under oilseeds, pulses and coarse cereals, raising concerns over crop output and food price inflation later in the year.

According to the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) monthly outlook, India is likely to receive below-normal rainfall in July, at less than 94% of the long-period average (LPA). The forecast follows India's driest June in more than a decade, and the fifth-driest since records began in 1901, with south-west monsoon rainfall 39.8% below the LPA. The country received 99.5mm of rainfall during the month, compared with the normal of 165.3mm.