Kharif acreage gap narrows to 1.3% despite 15% rainfall deficit

New Delhi: The kharif the pace of planting has almost caught up with last year, although acreage for several key crops remains lower, according to Agriculture Department data. Farmers planted 110.39 million hectares as of September 18, down 1.3% from a year earlier, or 1.5 million hectares less than last year. The acreage is also close to the ministry’s normal standard of 110.4 million hectares.

The headline number masks declines in key crops such as rice, maize, sugarcane and cotton, which are key to India’s food and fiber stocks. Rice area decreased by 3.7% year-on-year to 42.9 million hectares.

Pulses offered some support, with acreage up 1.4% to 11.9 million hectares, led by gains in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Coarse grains and oilseeds also rose slightly, while cotton and sugarcane remained below last year’s levels.

An uneven monsoon remains a problem. A 15% rainfall deficit and a dry season threaten crop growth. Experts said the resilience of Indian agriculture will increasingly depend on improving productivity and ensuring efficient management of every hectare.

“The resilience of Indian agriculture will ultimately depend not only on how many hectares we cultivate, but how productively and sustainably we manage each hectare,” Uday Raj Anand, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Domestic Business, Parijat Industries, an agrochemical firm.

The area under Shri Anna and coarse grains stood at 18.5 million hectares, a slight increase from 18.4 million hectares a year earlier. The increase in area was mainly due to higher acreage in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand. The area planted to maize decreased to 9.27 million hectares this year from 9.48 million hectares last year.

Retreat of the Southwest Monsoon

The area under oilseeds rose to 19.4 million hectares, an increase of more than 1,000 hectares from the previous year. Lower soybean and groundnut acreage offset gains in crops such as sesame and sunflower.

Cotton acreage was also marginally lower at 10.9 million hectares compared to 11 million hectares a year ago. The decline in cotton area coverage is mainly attributable to substantial reductions in Rajasthan and Haryana, followed by declines in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, which more than offset the gains recorded in Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Gujarat.

Sugarcane acreage at 5.84 million hectares was marginally lower than the 5.88 million hectares recorded a year ago.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that the conditions are favorable for the withdrawal of Southwest Monsoon from remaining parts of Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh and Delhi, some other parts of Rajasthan and also parts of Saurashtra & Kutch, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand 2 and 3 days west Uttarakhand. Withdrawal of the southwest monsoon usually begins in western Rajasthan in September, then gradually moves towards other parts of northwest and central India and subsequently to the southern peninsula and eastern regions.

Retreat marks the transition to the post-monsoon period, although the pace of retreat depends on prevailing rainfall and atmospheric conditions.