The Hindu : National : Monsoon revival raises kharif hopes

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 14, 2004

National

National

Monsoon revival raises kharif hopes

By G. Venkataramani

CHENNAI, AUG. 13. The revival of the SouthWest Monsoon after a protracted ``break'' in most parts of the country has raised hopes of a modest kharif harvest. The recent spell of rains has brought in fresh cheers on the farm front, and hectic farming activities in all the major growing areas stand testimony to a positive trend, according to experts in the Union Ministry of Agriculture.

Kharif rice area covered so far (as on August 9) is 22.06 million hectares, which is 1.38 million hectares less than last year. Cotton area has reached a comfortable 7.5 million hectares, which is 0.35 million hectares more than the previous year's coverage. The normal area under cotton is 8.9 million hectares.

No cheers on pulses front

As far as coarse cereals are concerned the area covered so far is 16.12 million hectares, which is lower than the area covered the previous year by 4.05 million hectares. The normal area under coarse cereals is 23.2 million hectares.

The area under total pulses is a dismal 8.32 million hectares, and it is 4.39 million hectares lower than the previous years' coverage. Generally, pulses are grown over 10.4 million hectares, and last year the area under pulses was as high as 12.7 million hectares, according to crop experts.

Oilseeds coverage has been good this year, and it exceeded the normal coverage of 15.4 million hectares. It shrunk to 13.85 million hectares last year in the same time. The area covered with groundnut is 5.35 million hectares, which is a good improvement over the previous year's coverage of 4.48 million hectares. Soyabean has been planted over 7.55 million hectares, and sunflower area extended over 0.68 million hectares. However, the area under sesamum, castor seed and Niger fell significantly short of the normal coverage.

Sugarcane coverage has fallen short of the normal area, and so have jute and mesta. The protracted dry spell that prevailed during early July has kept pests and diseases at below economic threshold levels in almost all the crops.

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