Planting of summer-sown crops in India such as soybean, cotton, rice and
corn has been delayed by at least two weeks because of the slow progress of
monsoon rains in central and western parts of the country, raising concerns
over lower production.
Lower production of soybeans could force India to raise imports of edible oils
such as palm oil and soy oil, while a drop in cotton output could limit the
world’s biggest fibre producer’s exports. Lower rice output could hit
shipments from the world’s biggest exporter.
“Monsoon rainfall is delayed. Farmers could not start sowing on the time,”
said Atul Ganatra, president of the Cotton Association of India. Farmers have
so far planted summer-sown crops on 8.22 million hectares (20.3 million
acres), down 9% compared with the same period a year ago, according to
provisional data from the ministry of agriculture. Cotton sowing is down
9.4%, while soybean planting has lagged 51% during the period.
Monsoon rains hit Kerala nearly a week later than normal earlier this month.
Progress was slowed further last week because of cyclone Vayu that drew
moisture from the Arabian Sea. Monsoon rainfall was 43% lower than
normal so far in June, but in some states, such as Maharashtra, the rainfall
deficit was as high as 68%, data compiled by the state-run India
Meteorological Department (IMD) showed.
In Maharashtra and MP, key producers of soybean, cotton, sugar and pulses,
rainfall will remain below average this week but could pick up from the week
after, said a senior IMD official, who declined to be named. “From the next
week, the monsoon could gain momentum,” the official said.
Typically, the monsoon covers most parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh by
mid-June, but so far this year monsoon has not even fully covered the
southern state of Karnataka, a producer of sugar and corn, IMD data showed.
Monsoons deliver about 70% of India’s annual rainfall and are the lifeblood
of its $2.5 trillion economy, spurring farm output and boosting rural
spending on items ranging from gold to cars, motorcycles and refrigerators.
“Rainfall delay is a cause of concern for oilseed farmers. If rainfall delays
further, it could change sowing patterns and could hurt crop yields as well,”
said BV Mehta, executive director of the Solvent Extractors’ Association of
India (SEA).
Farmers cannot use water from reservoirs as many have dried up in western
India after the region received lower rainfall than normal in 2018, he said.
For the June to September monsoon season, India is likely to receive 96% of
the average of rainfall received during the past 50 years, the IMD forecast
last month.
Source: The Financial Express, India Wednesday, 19 June 2019