New Delhi: The sowing of the monsoon crop (kharif) across India remained below last year’s level despite an improvement in July rainfall, with farmers planting crops in 105.2 million hectares as of Friday, 3.6% lower than a year ago, as the delayed onset of the southwest monsoon and uneven rainfall distribution continued to weigh on planting decisions. According to experts, this is likely to impact total food output this season.
The latest agriculture ministry data show the gap has narrowed only marginally from about 5% a week ago, suggesting that while sowing has picked up after the monsoon revived in July, the recovery has been insufficient to offset the damage caused by a rain-deficient June.
The sowing shortfall comes at a time when the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that the country is likely to receive below-normal rainfall during August and September, with El Nino conditions expected to strengthen . That has heightened concerns over crop growth and yields, particularly in areas where the crops depend on rains for irrigation.
According to the weather office, cumulative rainfall between June 1 and July 31 was about 13% below the long-period average. While rainfall improved in July, it remained unevenly distributed, with most of the excess precipitation concentrated over central India, particularly Odisha, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Eastern and northeastern India continued to record rainfall deficits of nearly 30%, and south India , 25% .
The uneven monsoon is reflected in sowing patterns across crops.
Paddy (rice), India’s largest kharif crop, has been planted over 30.15 million hectares, 2.2% lower than the corresponding period last year. The agriculture ministry attributed the decline mainly to lower acreage in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Haryana, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh, although higher sowing in Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand partly offset the decline.
Among coarse cereals, maize acreage fell 7.2%, while total coarse cereal sowing was down 7.6% year-on-year.
Pulses continued to lag last year’s pace despite some improvement in urad (black gram) cultivation. Total pulses acreage was down 6.4% from a year ago. Urad sowing rose 10.6%, but acreage under tur (pigeon pea) declined 9.1% and moong (mung beans) fell 9.3%.
Oilseeds emerged as the only major crop group to surpass last year’s level in terms of sowing. Farmers sowed oilseeds over 17.23 million hectares, up 0.7% year-on-year, as higher planting of groundnut, sesamum and sunflower compensated for a marginal decline in soybean acreage. However, castorseed, a commercial non-edible oilseed crop, saw acreage plunge nearly 37%.
Among cash crops, sugarcane acreage rose 1.5% and jute and mesta increased 1.9%, while cotton sowing remained 2.3% below last year’s level.
Agricultural economist G. Chandrashekhar said the combination of delayed sowing, uneven rainfall and the IMD’s forecast for below-normal rainfall over the remaining monsoon season could reduce agricultural production across most crops.
“Keeping in mind the IMD forecast, the rains so far, as well as the spatial distribution, we can surely assess a fall in agricultural output of all crops this season,” he said.
He noted that the sowing window for most kharif crops effectively closes by mid-July, limiting the scope for further recovery in acreage. “Several key agricultural states—including Punjab, Haryana, parts of Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar—continue to face rainfall deficits ranging between 20% and 40%, which would hurt crop prospects,” he said.
“As a result, every crop—whether pulses, rice, maize, sugarcane, cotton, oilseeds or coarse cereals—is likely to record lower output than last year,” Chandrashekhar said. He added that India could consequently see record imports of agricultural commodities such as edible oils, pulses and cotton to bridge domestic supply gaps.
