August 3, 2015
Sugaronline | http://goo.gl/ojUybi
The plantation area under India's summer crop has risen 9% this year thanks to higher-than-expected rainfall, signaling prospects of an increase in farm output this season, reports Dow Jones.
The area under cultivation of major summer crops such as rice, sugar cane, lentils and oilseeds expanded to 76.4 million hectares by the end of July, from 70.3 million hectares a year earlier, the agriculture ministry said in a report late Friday.
Planting of oilseeds jumped 18% to 14.8 million hectares while those for lentils rose 21% to 8.2 million hectares, according to the report. Rice planting also climbed 6% to 14.8 million hectares by the end of July.
After a good start in June, India's seasonal rainfall weakened between the end of June and early July. But it revived from mid-July, giving a boost to crop sowing.
India received 4% less than the average annual rainfall by the end of July. The shortfall is much smaller than the 12% deficit forecast for the June to September season by the country's official weather agency.
The recent pick-up in rainfall has brought relief to policymakers and farmers who have been concerned about a second successive year of drought.
"We are seeing signs of a recovery" in farm sector production, said J.S. Sandhu, deputy director general at the state-funded Indian Council of Agricultural Research. "The sowing progress has been good in most [regions] and the crops are in growth stage."
Higher crop output will also help ease inflation concerns in Asia's third-largest economy where food costs account for about half of the consumer price index.
However, rainfall in the remaining monsoon months will be crucial for a healthy crop. Mr. Sandhu said "abundant rains" still are needed, especially just before the harvest -- which begins end of September.
India--one of the world's top producers and consumers of rice, sugar and cotton--relies heavily on the seasonal rains for irrigation. Nearly half of its farmlands are rain-fed, making it vulnerable to farm supply shocks that can hurt rural demand and stoke inflation.