Kharif Crop Update

India is an agrarian country with more than 60% of the population depending on agriculture for their livelihood. The country produces innumerable crops ranging from medicinal to cereal crops. These commodities are used for various purposes from human consumption to industries to animal feed. The crops are produced under irrigated, partially-irrigated and rain-fed conditions. The crops are broadly divided into three categories, namely, kharif, rabi and summer crops. The kharif season starts from June and ends in September. The rabi season is during October to February and the summer season is between March and May.

Kharif crops are grown in both irrigated and rain-fed conditions. The season begins from the onset of the south-west monsoon and ends in September. The rabi season starts with the onset of north-east monsoon in October. Many crops are cultivated in both kharif and rabi seasons. The agriculture crops produced in India are seasonal in nature and highly dependant on these two monsoons. The rains in these two monsoon seasons determine the sowing area and yield of the crops, including irrigated crops. The plantation crops also depend on monsoons as a source of rains and climatic conditions.

Among major agriculture crops, the kharif season crops have the largest share and major food items like cereals, pulses, oilseeds and spices are cultivated in this season. Most of the cereals, except wheat, the largest cereal crop, are produced in the kharif season. The kharif crops constitute about 53% of total cereals production. In case of pulses, kharif crops have a marginally low share of 43%. The largest pulse crop, chana, is produced in the rabi season. Most of the oilseeds are cultivated in the kharif season under rain-fed conditions, and nearly 70% of the oil seed crops are cultivated in this season. Of the major agriculture crops produced in India, about 54% of the output comes in the kharif season and the remaining 46% in the rabi season. Apart from grains, oilseeds and pulses, many other crops like cotton, sugarcane and jute are also cultivated in the kharif season. The plantation crops like coffee, pepper, cardamom are also harvested in the kharif season. The largest rabi crops are wheat and chana.

Figure 1: Area comparison of major kharif and rabi crops (2007‐08) 

          Area in million hectares   Kharif crops % of total  Rabi crops % total   Total cropsCereals  114.5 53 101 47  215.56Pulses  6.45 43 8.55 57  15.11Total food grains  120.96 52 109.7 48  230.67Oils seeds  19.84 69 8.98 31  28.83Total crops  140.80 54 118.68 46  259.50

Source: Ministry of Agriculture. Note: Only major groups of kharif crops have been taken for comparison. However, there are many other crops that cultivated in the kharif season which do not come under these groups.

Southwest monsoon in 2008

The southwest monsoon set over Kerala on May 31st, almost according to schedule. However, it advanced rapidly and covered most of the country within two weeks. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had forecasted southwest monsoon for June – September 2008 at 99% of Long Period Average (LPA). The monsoon covered extreme northwest parts on June 16th, almost two weeks ahead of the normal date. The country received good rains during the first one month of the monsoon, recording 121% LPA during June 1-29th. Although the overall monsoon was good during the first month, the distribution of rain was not good enough. The southern and central states received deficient rains, where northwestern and eastern states received excess rains. The sowing of most of the kharif crops started in June as per schedule. These kharif crops were cultivated mostly in southern and central states, where there was insufficient rainfall during the early sowing period. The sowing of kharif crops lagged for the first month and recorded below normal area.

However, sowing picked up slowly by the end of June. The kharif crops were badly affected in July due to lack of rains, especially in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Crops like cotton, pulses and sugarcane got affected and concerns of huge crop loss increased during this period.

Sowing progress

Among the major kharif crops, sowing of oilseeds has increased significantly this season. The oil seed crops’ sowing area recorded 16.87 million hectares as on August 22nd, an increase of 0.71% from the same period last year. However, a major increase in oilseed area is in soybean. The area under other oilseeds is lagging this year. Soybean is mainly cultivated in Madhya Pradesh, which had received very good rains throughout the season. However, other major oilseed producers like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat have received scanty rainfall.

The oilseeds sowing area has increased by 6.17% from the normal sown area. The sowing area of rice has also increased by nearly 7%, recording 32.46 million hectares. The worst-hit crops are pulses and most of them have recorded a decline of 15-20% as per recent sowing data. The overall sowing area of pulses has declined by 15.33% compared to last year and 12% compared to the normal area.

Apart from weather conditions, commodity prices played a major role in the sowing of kharif crops. The prices of oilseeds increased 2-3 times in the last year due to domestic shortages and firm global markets. The oilseed prices closely follow global prices as India imports huge quantity of oils. The oilseeds had seen a bull run during 2007-08 and made a record-high level in both domestic and global markets. This higher price of oil seeds motivated the farmers to grow more oilseeds than any other commodities.

Kharif sowing update as on 22nd August

Crop 8/22/200

8 8/22/200

7% change from last

year Norma

l % change from

NormalRice 32.46 30.36 6.94 39.1 -16.97Maize 6.66 7.18 -7.16 6.37 4.62Coarse cereals 18.41 20.40 -9.79 22.65 -18.74Cotton 8.59 9.07 -5.25 8.37 2.64Sugarcane 4.41 5.30 -16.66 4.14 6.59Groundnut 4.95 5.08 -2.42 5.35 -7.40Soybean 9.41 8.68 8.38 7.25 29.82Sunflower 0.41 0.68 -39.82 0.76 -45.92Sesamum 1.32 1.45 -9.35 1.44 -8.47Castor 0.58 0.64 -9.78 0.7 -17.00Total oilseeds 16.87 16.75 0.71 15.89 6.17Pulses 9.56 11.29 -15.33 10.87 -12.09Arhar 3.15 3.70 -15.02 3.46 -9.08Urad 1.96 2.50 -21.62 2.53 -22.61Moong 2.29 3.03 -24.46 2.61 -12.22Others 2.16 2.05 5.36 2.26 -4.38Source: Agriculture Department.

In regard to pulses, the prices have almost stabilized in the last year after a two-year rally. The lack of rains in pulses-growing regions, especially Maharashtra, northern Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, had affected sowing

activities. Although prices of cotton touched record levels of Rs29,000-30,000 per candy, the unfavorable weather conditions in Maharashtra and Gujarat affected the early sown crop. Huge cotton crop area has been affected in July due to lack of rains.

Conclusion

The sowing of kharif crops is almost completed and the total sown area of all crops, except oilseeds, is lagging behind. These crops require another 1-2 spells of rains before harvest time in October. The output of many crops like pulses, rice, sugarcane and castor seed may decline this year, thus having a major effect on supply. India is the largest exporter of cotton, and forecast of lower output may slow down exports in this year. The country may continue to face shortage of pulses and has to depend on imports for domestic requirements. The prices of edible oils may decline during the arrival season due to higher crop sowing, but would largely depend on global trend in prices.

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