Farmers waiting for Monsoon rain should start preparing for plantation and sowing crops as rain is expected to pick up in East and Central India next week. According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, bands of rain and clouds are expected to arrive from the Bay of Bengal later next week. These rain would follow a trough of low which is expected to form and remain extended at least for three days from the Bay of Bengal to northwest plains.
The beneficiaries of these rain would be farmers of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and they should be prepared to make most out of these rains.
Amid grim outlook of Monsoon due to El-Nino threat, sowing of main summer crops such as rice, corn, soybean, sugar cane and cotton have already started in many areas, but are behind schedule. According to media reports till last week, rice had been sown/transplanted in 7.59 lakh hectare, pulses in 2.60 lakh hectare, oilseeds in 1.23 lakh hectare and coarse cereals in 12.29 lakh hectare. Experts believe that sowing can accelerate by mid-July erasing the current delay of 10 to 15 days.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reviewed the latest status of the monsoon at a high level meeting, attended by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. Government weather officials assured in the meeting that rain is likely to improve in the crucial months July and August, when planting takes place.
However, the government in an attempt to contain market speculation over food prices has taken measures to improve supply-side sentiment, including introducing minimum export prices for basic food items such as onions and potatoes since mid-June. The government has also decided to sell 5 million tonnes of rice in domestic markets from its stocks as part of measures to curb inflation, said a report published by Reuters.
Photograph by Keyan20
