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Kharif crops severely affected by deficient monsoon

Sujay Mehdudia

Total acreage of crops sown declines by 52.11 lakh hectare since last year

NEW DELHI: The government has stated that deficient rainfall has had a major impact on crops this kharif season with the poor monsoon resulting in the total acreage of crops sown declining by 52.11 lakh hectare to 432.26 from 484.37 lakh hectare last year.

Agriculture and Food Distribution Minister Sharad Pawar said in a reply to Parliament that because of deficit rainfall, there was a shortage of moisture, which in turn affected the sowing.

Between June 1 and July 15, the country received 220.5 mm of rainfall against the normal 300.8 mm. Of the 533 meteorological districts, 369 received less than normal rainfall, Mr. Pawar said.

About 794 lakh hectare is cultivated under rain-fed conditions, he said in a separate reply.

According to the sowing data submitted in Parliament, the area under paddy cultivation declined to 114.63 lakh hectare this season from 145.21 lakh hectare in the same period last year. Acreage of coarse cereals also fell to 101.90 lakh hectare from 116.05 during the review period.

The kharif crop, whose sowing begins in June, is harvested during October-November. According to the data, the acreage of jowar fell marginally from 17.16 to 16.57 lakh hectare, bajra dipped from 46.01 to 34.67 lakh hectare and maize declined from 47.41 to 46.18 lakh hectare.

The acreage of sugarcane also declined to 42.5 lakh hectare in the current season from 43.79 lakh hectare. Sowing area under jute was down at 6.89 lakh hectare.

Mr. Pawar said the prices of pulses surged by up to 38 per cent in the past year as domestic output declined and rates in the global markets hardened, pushing up the value of imports. The wholesale price-based inflation of pulses as on July 4 stood at: arhar (38.15 per cent), urad (21.69 per cent), gram (-4.99 per cent), moong (30.56 per cent) and masoor (10.51 per cent).

While the Centre has taken several measures, including allowing zero duty on the import of pulses till the end of this fiscal and extending the ban on the export by one year till March 31, 2010, a drop in domestic production has taken its toll on the prices, Mr. Pawar said.

“As per the fourth advance estimates, the domestic production of pulses has declined to 14.66 million tonnes during 2008-09, compared to 14.76 million tonnes during 2007-08, leading to a supply-demand mismatch,” the Minister said.

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