Replanting of rain-hit crops likely to push back summer harvest: Analysts
Torrential rains and flooding have damaged summer crops across states, forcing farmers to replant or wait for the water to recede from submerged fields
Torrential rains and flooding have damaged summer crops across states, forcing farmers to replant or wait for the water to recede from submerged fields, which will likely push back harvests of several crops this year, analysts said.
Delay in the maturing of crops could keep grocery prices elevated for longer as official advisories asked farmers in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, which saw heavy floods, to delay the sowing of pulses, maize, soybean, and other vegetables to avoid further damage.
A delayed arrival of the annual June-September monsoon and heavier than anticipated rainfall have upended farm operations and pushed up cultivation costs.
Read | Sowing picks pace as monsoon revives
The country is battling a spell of high food prices worsened by widespread flooding in some states, prompting the government to ban export of non-premium rice on Thursday.
Despite concerns that the El Nino weather pattern could lead to dry weather, the monsoon has been average so far in the country as a whole, but the uneven spread of rains has posed new risks. Northwestern states have received hazardous rains, but farm belts in some southern states have been dry.
A third of India has received normal rainfall so far, according to the India Meteorological Department, while about 34% of India has received deficient rains and 32% surplus rainfall.
Read | Monsoon misery:Heavy rains cripple Haryana
Flooding has damaged paddy extensively in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, said Ramandeep Singh Mann, a farm expert. Paddy fields in most food bowl northern states are currently submerged and famers have incurred losses, he said.
Yet, deficient rainfall has delayed the planting of paddy, cotton, soybean, corn and pulses in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. Bihar, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal are major producers of rice.
Erratic rainfall has significantly hampered the sowing of rice, vegetables and pulses, whose prices have been elevated. “New planting will delay maturing of these crops, some of which have multiple pickings. This will likely add to price pressures and delay winter sowing,” said Abhishek Agrawal of Comtrade, a commodities trader.
Kharif sowing in the current monsoon season was 1.6% lower at 59.8 million hectares as on July 14, according to latest data from the agriculture ministry.
The area under paddy has dropped by 6.1% to 12.3 million hectare and the area sown with pulses has declined 13.2% to 6.6 million hectares. Among pulses, the area under tur (pigeon pea) has declined by a sharp 3.8% to 1.7 million hectares, the data showed.
The total area under all oilseeds is up 1.7% to 13.9 million hectares due to larger groundnut acreage. However, the key kharif oilseed, soybean, has declined 1.8% to 9.9 million hectare. The area under cotton has also dipped 11.7% to 9.62 million hectares.|
