Rabi Update: Sowing Of Pulses Continues To Lag

Rabi sowing remains on the backfoot, with pulses and rice showing the maximum lag.

Overall, sowing area is 2.7% lower, compared with the same period last year, covering a total of 515.6 lakh hectares as of Dec. 8, according to Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare data. Compared to the decadal average, it is 20.5% lower.

For pulses, sowing is 8.4% below last year. Sowing areas for rice lags by 9.7%, while cereals and wheat lag by 2% and 1%, respectively. Oilseeds have exceeded last year's figures by 1%, the data showed.

While the Reserve Bank of India retained its inflation forecast at 5.4% for FY24, it cautioned that kharif harvest arrivals and progress in rabi sowing, together with El Niño weather conditions, need to be monitored.

A delayed start to the rabi sowing this year, due to erratic rainfall, has raised concerns around agriculture growth in H2 FY24, Jahnavi Prabhakar, economist at Care Ratings Ltd., said in a note. So far, 68% of the normal area has been covered with a pick up expected in the month of December, the note added.

Live storage at key reservoirs is lower at 64% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs, as per the reservoir storage bulletin dated Dec. 7. Existing storage is less than the corresponding period of last year in the country as a whole and also less than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period. It is 80% of the live storage of corresponding period of last year and 93% of storage of average of last ten years.

A total of 68% of that total normal area has been covered through sowing so far. For all the crops, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan have been lagging relative to sowing, compared with last year. While, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have been clocking higher sowing than last year and need further monitoring, Prabhakar said.