Deficit rains in eastern states leads to less paddy sowing, other crops up

New Delhi, July 15 From minus 27 per cent on July 1, the rice/paddy sowing has come down to minus 17, as compared to same time previous year, as Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar have remained rain deficit while Uttar Pradesh has witnessed large deficit in rainfall from June 1 till Friday.

However, this is still an improvement over the July 1 status when, as reported by then, rice was sown over 43.45 lakh Ha, compared to 59.56 lakh Ha in 2021, as much as 27.05 per cent less.

This year, pulses, coarse cereals and oilseeds have shown increased areas with small improvement compared to July 1, sowing data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has shown.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the country, as a whole, has received 335.2 mm rainfall between June 1 and July 15 this year, 14 per cent more compared to the normal of 294.2 mm.

Between June 1 and July 15, amongst the paddy growing states, Jharkhand has received only 172.3 mm rainfall compared to 336.6, a massive minus 49 per cent less, West Bengal received 374.8 mm rain compared to 490.6 mm, minus 24 per cent, while Bihar received 194.8 mm rainfall in the same duration compared 334.6 mm, minus 42 per cent.

But it is Uttar Pradesh that has received a big setback with just 77.3 mm rainfall compared to normal of 220.0 mm, a whopping minus 65 per cent.

Total area under pulses sown as of July 15 is 72.66 lakh Ha compared to 66.69 lakh Ha last year, an increase of 8.95 per cent. Among the pulses, area under arhar and kulthi is down by 18.25 per cent and 33.79 per cent, respectively compared to last year.

The total area under coarse cereals has increased to 93.91 lakh Ha compared to 87.06 lakh Ha last year, up 7.87 per cent. However, area under ragi is just 0.27 lakh Ha compared to 0.51 lakh Ha, as much as 46.75 less. Similarly, total area under oilseeds was 134.04 lakh Ha, compared to 124.83 lakh Ha last year, up 7.38 per cent, the Agriculture Department data showed.

Sugarcane sowing showed a slight dip (minus 0.72 per cent) while cotton showed an increase of 6.44 per cent in total area sown.

Meanwhile, amongst the states and UTs, three - Gujarat, Telangana and UT of Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli - have received large excess rain (between 60 per cent or more), eight states have received excess rainfall (between 20 and 59 per cent more than normal), as many as 17 states and UTs have received normal rainfall (minus 19 to plus 19 per cent of long period average), seven states/UTs have received deficient rainfall (minus 59 to minus 20 per cent), while one state - Uttar Pradesh - is witnessing large deficit (minus 99 to minus 60 per cent) rainfall, IMD data for time period between June 1 and July 15 showed.

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