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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Monsoon revival rises sowing of crops by 35%, water level in reservoirs still low

Monsoon revival rises sowing of crops by 35%, water level in reservoirs still low

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published Published on Jul 22, 2014   modified Modified on Jul 22, 2014
-The Economic Times


NEW DELHI: The monsoon's late revival has increased sowing of crops by 35% in the past week, but worries about agriculture persist as reservoir levels are low, while planting is still much lower than last year, and only slightly better than it was at this time in the drought year of 2009.

The situation in water reservoirs was also worrisome as they were filled up to only 26% capacity, down sharply from 42% last year, and the 10-year average of 30%. Reservoirs normally fill up rapidly in July and create a water reserve for irrigation, drinking and power generation until the following year's monsoon.

Heavy showers drenched some of the driest regions of the country, including Haryana, where Friday's rainfall was 426% above average; Punjab, 82%, Gujarat region, 39%; and Saurashtra and Kutch, 77%. Total rainfall in the country on Friday was 8% above average, as the monsoon remained strong for the fifth consecutive day and brought down the seasonal deficit by another percentage point to 34%.

The India Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rain in many parts of the country, except in the southern regions, where it will be subdued in the next week or so. Rainfall this week has helped rice planting expand to 12.74 million hectare, but it is still lower than 15.41 million hectare a year ago and slightly better than 11.46 million hectares sown in 2009.

Officials said sowing was continuing in many parts of the country, and was likely to pick up significantly in the days ahead. Planting was relatively slow in Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Haryana, the agriculture ministry said.

Planting of pulses, at 2.16 million hectares, is much lower than last year's 5.42 million, and even lower than 3.84 million planted in 2009, but with the weather office forecasting good rainfall in the next 10 days, the acreage is poised to increase.

"We still have a sowing window of 10-12 days. I expect farmers to go for pulses sowing in rainfed areas of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab," said KCBhartiya, director at India Pulses and Grain Association.

Oilseed planting is also expected to improve but currently it is at only 3.81 million hectare compared to 13.66 million last year and 10.7 million tonnes in 2009, when July rainfall was close to normal but the dry patch in June, August and September made it the worst drought in 37 years.

Cotton sowing is down to 5.6 million hectares from 10 million a year ago, but the situation can improve rapidly. "It's a cause of concern, but not a cause of panic as we can still catch up by the month end," said Dhiren Sheth, president of the Cotton Association of India.

Area under coarse cereals - jowar, bajra and maize - had also dropped sharply to 4.84 million hectare from 12.76 million hectares a year ago, and 10.2 million in the drought year.

Punjab and Chhattisgarh continue to have better water position in reservoirs, according to CWC report.

However, the situation was not good in Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Tripura, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu where water storage level in reservoirs monitored by CWC was below than previous year.


The Economic Times, 19 July, 2014, http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-07-19/news/51744713_1_hectare-sowing-drought-year


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