Latest sowing data reveals less sowing than in 2022
The absence of pre-monsoon rains has delayed ploughing and sowing in this Kharif season in different areas. Representative photo: iStock. A dry June is slowly becoming a chronic problem for farmers. This is also visible in the sowing data released on June 9, 2023. Of the four major Kharif crop categories — rice, pulses, oilseeds and coarse cereals — the first three have shown a decline in sowing progress compared to last year.
Area coverage of paddy was 28.22 per cent less compared to the corresponding period in 2022. Against 0.491 million hectares (ha) in 2022, only 0.352 million ha has been sown as of June 9, 2023, as per the latest data released by the government.
Similarly, there is sowing of pulses on almost 38 per cent less area when compared to 2022, when 0.175 million ha was covered under Kharif pulses till June 9. This year, 0.109 million ha has been recorded. All major pulses like arhar, urad and moong have shown a decline.
Coming to oilseeds, crops like groundnut, sunflower, soyabean and sesamum have all recorded a dip in area compared to 2022. The overall decline in area coverage by oilseeds crops was 32.78 per cent.
Data for cotton crop was not available. Meanwhile, the area under coarse cereals increased by 80.83 per cent. This was mostly owing to bajra, which saw the highest increase compared to 2022 sowing among cereals.
June and July are the two most important Kharif months, particularly for the 61 per cent of farmers who practice rain-fed agriculture. But a comparatively drier June is increasingly causing trouble for farmers. A dry June means the ground moisture levels are not conducive for sowing, and the delay can cripple food production.
The onset of the southwest monsoon, which typically lasts from June-September, has been delayed this year and happened on June 8. The monsoon typically hits the Kerala coast by June 1 and covers the entire country by June 15. Moreover, Cyclone Biporjoy, the very severe cyclonic storm in the Arabian Sea, is also likely to influence the monsoon progress, and rainfall is likely to be weak over peninsular India and several parts of the country.
The absence of pre-monsoon rains has delayed ploughing and sowing in this Kharif season in different areas. In fact, in nine of the past 12 years, the month of June has been drier than normal in 10 or more meteorological sub-divisions.
Last year, Down to Earth analysed IMD data for 30 years, from 1988 to 2018, covering 676 of India’s 730 districts in 28 states and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The analysis revealed that 420 districts in the country (62 per cent of the districts covered in the data) had seen a decrease in rainfall in June.
Several farmers told DTE that they have started skipping the month of June and shifted sowing to July-August.
The shadow of El Nino looms large over farmers. The event is 80 per cent likely in the May-June-July period and 90 per cent likely in the June-July-August period, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States.
In 2015, when the El Nino event was at its peak, India received only 86 per cent of its normal monsoon rainfall, and the year was officially a drought year for the country. The last major El Nino event lasted from September 2014 to May 2016. There were major heatwaves in India and many other countries around the world; a huge impact on the monsoon rainfall in India was observed during the period.
El Nino, the warmer-than-normal phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, is generally associated with less intense rainfall than normal during the monsoon season for India. Delayed onset and drought conditions have also been observed during El Nino years.
This has the potential to affect agriculture activities, crop production and crop yields, causing losses to farmers and contributing to food inflation as well.
Between 1951 and 2022, 60 per cent of the El Nino years witnessed below-normal or deficient rainfall during the monsoon season, especially during strong El Nino years, according to data from the IMD. India also experienced droughts in many of these years.
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