The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare released the data of sowing of various crops in the Kharif season last week. Seeing the figures, lines of concern emerged on everyone’s forehead. Because except for tur, sugarcane, sunflower and jute, the area under sowing of all other crops is less this time. Last year, Kharif crops were sown in 691.93 lakh hectares. This time 80 lakh hectare has come down to 611.89 lakh hectare.
The sown area of this season is less than the normal area during 2016-20 season (June-July). The sowing figure in Kharif season from 2016 to 2020 has been 636.83 lakh hectares. The cultivation of paddy, urad, moong, jowar, bajra, ragi, maize, sesame, castor and jute has decreased this time even from the normal area. Kharif crop production has a direct impact on the economy as good production as well as remunerative prices accelerate rural areas. This then leads to a spin-off effect, helping the economy.
Last year the sowing of Kharif crops was very good. If we talk about soybean, then it was sown in about 92.36 lakh hectare, but so far this year only 82.14 lakh hectare has been sown. Along with this, moong was sown in an area of 13.49 lakh hectare, but this year it has reached only 11.92 lakh hectare. Apart from this, sowing of cotton has also lagged behind. Let us tell you that the main crop of Kharif season is also Bajra, whose sowing has also reduced considerably. If we talk about last year, then the market was sown in about 25.32 lakh hectares of land.
Report of National Bulk Handling Corporation (NBHC)
It was told in this report that the production of coarse cereals, pulses, oilseeds and sugarcane for the Kharif season 2019-20 may be 14.14 percent, 14.09 percent, 53.31 percent and 11.07 percent respectively as compared to the previous estimate.
But seeing the current agricultural scenario, it is believed that now inflation may increase further.The fall in agricultural output could lead to a rise in retail inflation, which is currently above the RBI’s target of 6.26 per cent. The sluggish southwest monsoon is also a major reason for the low sowing of crops during the Kharif season.
This year’s monsoon and kharif sowing are very sensitive for the country as the second wave of the corona pandemic has already dampened the hopes of a pick-up in demand from the industry and consumers. Last year, agriculture was the only sector which registered a growth of 3.1 per cent during the year. Therefore, if there is an eclipse on agriculture this year, then the difficulties for the government on the economic front can increase a lot.
