Due to the uneven distribution of monsoon rainfall, India’s sowing of key summer crops such as rice, corn and soybeans is lagging behind.
Indian farmers plant summer grain crops during the monsoon season in June and July for harvest in October. Monsoon rains could reach 94 to 106 percent of the long-term average in July, the month most critical for summer grain planting, the meteorological department said last week.
India’s Ministry of Agriculture data show that as of July 8, farmers have planted 40.67 million hectares of summer grain crops, down about 9.3% year-on-year. Among them, soybean planted area of 5.4 million hectares, down 22% year-on-year. Maize area was 3.18 million hectares, down 24% year-on-year. Sugarcane and cotton planted area of 5.3 million hectares and 8.5 million hectares, respectively, compared with the same period last year, little change; rice sown area of only 7.2 million hectares, much lower than the same period last year 9.5 million hectares.
Traders said that the lack of rainfall in the rice producing areas in eastern India is quite serious. If these areas do not receive sufficient rainfall in the next few days, rice sown area and yields may decline. Since the start of this year’s rainy season, the cumulative rainfall in India’s main rice producing areas has been 46 percent below normal.
India is the world’s largest rice exporter, accounting for more than 40% of global rice trade, and the country’s reduced rice production could prompt New Delhi to curb rice exports.
Source:BoiGuru
Post time: Jul-18-2022