Even though Monsoon ended below than normal this year, it left a trail of increased sowing of kharif crops. While area sown under pulses increased substantially by 12 per cent, paddy acreage rose marginally during 2015 kharif season. The higher sowing figures have been led mainly by increased area under pulses like arhar (tur), urad and moong.
According to the latest estimates released by the Agriculture Ministry, as of Thursday, crops such as rice, soyabean, sugarcane and a variety of pulses have been sown over 1,031.37 lakh hectares (lha), 1.3 per cent higher than during the corresponding period last year.
Under the scare of El-Nino, Southwest Monsoon started on a positive note with June receiving more than sufficient rain and countrywide rainfall percentage standing with 16% excess than normal rainfall at the end of June. Kharif sowing that begins with the onset of Monsoon benefited from the substantial widespread heavy Monsoon rain during June.
Increased Acreage
The total area sown under kharif crops as on October 1, reached 1,031.37 lakh hectares compared with 1,017.86 lakh hectare last year at this time. Amidst price rise, the acreage of pulses went up to 114.58 lakh hectares, from 102.56 lakh hectares. As the demand for this staple food item never fails to rise and the retail prices also went up to Rs 150 per kg before the Monsoon, farmers decided to put up more area under this crop.
Monsoon 2015
Monsoon 2015 ended with a 14 per cent deficit where out of 36 sub-divisions, 17 reported deficient rainfall between June 1 and September 30. Still many regions benefited from the good rain in June and significant rainfall during the end of September. For instance, West Rajasthan recorded 46% excess rains. Andhra Pradesh recorded 10% more rains where rain helped in increasing paddy acreage.
Image Credit: hindu.com
