|
The area coverage under Kharif oilseeds this year is an all time record. As on the 10th of this month, the coverage was 171.5 lakh hectares (l ha). This is against 152.7 l ha in the corresponding period last year. The normal area coverage under Kharif oilseeds is 147 l ha. The Crop Weather Watch Group meeting of the Agriculture Ministry was informed yesterday that the rainfall received over most parts of the peninsular region during the last week has improved the prospects of oilseeds production. The coverage of individual oilseeds crops in lakh hectares is mentioned below:-
Crop
NORMAL
This Year
As on 10th Sept
Last Year
As on 10th Sept
Groundnut
54.80
52.64
52.72
Soybean
62.08
79.33
69.18
Sunflower
4.54
8.17
5.79
Sesamum
13.97
17.98
16.22
Niger
3.76
2.16
1.49
Castor
7.85
8.21
7.29
TOTAL
147.00
171.49
152.69
As regards pulses, the area covered so far this year is 128.5 l ha compared to 147.8 lha during the corresponding period last year. Crop wise details are given below:-
Crop
NORMAL
This Year
As on 9th Sept.
Last Year
As on 9th Sept.
Arhar
34.5
34.4
37.3
Urd
23.2
20.9
26.5
Moong
24.5
23.7
27.5
Kulthi
4.9
1.3
1.3
Moth
10.1
11.3
16.1
Guar
24.8
21.8
26.0
Others
6.5
15.5
13.3
TOTAL
128.5
128.5
147.8
The area coverage of rice so far is reported to be about 321.2 l ha compared to 345.9 l ha last year in the corresponding period.
The total area coverage under coarse cereals is 206.5 l ha as compared to 239.4 l ha during last year in the corresponding period. The total area under Bajra is 77.3 l ha as compared to 103.2 l ha last year. Jowar is covered in 37.3 l ha as compared to 42.3 l ha in the corresponding period of the previous year. Maize is covered in 68.9 l ha as compared to 69.3 l ha during last year in the corresponding period.
The total cotton coverage is reported to be 82.24 l ha compared to 73.86 l ha in the corresponding period of last year.
The cumulative seasonal rainfall in the country up to the eighth of this month was below normal by 12 per cent as compared to 10 per cent a week back. Of the 36 meteorological sub-divisions, the rainfall was normal in 21 and deficient in 15. The number of districts with large excess rainfall was 10, the same as at the end of the previous week. But the number of districts which experienced scanty rainfall came down to 18 from 21 at the end of the previous week.
According to the Indian Meteorological Department, moderate rainfall activity took place at many places with isolated heavy falls over Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra throughout the week ending 12th September. Moderate rainfall activity continued to prevail over the north-eastern States, West Bengal, Sikkim and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on many days of the week. Rainfall activity enhanced over Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and east Uttar Pradesh towards the end of the week. Light rain occurred over Gujarat, Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh during one or two days of the week. The weather remained mainly dry in other regions of the country. The forecast valid until the morning of Wednesday is that rain/thundershowers are likely to occur at many places in the north-eastern States and sub Himalayan, West Bengal and Sikkim, at a few places in Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa and Bihar and at isolated places in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Mainly dry weather will prevail in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat. Outlook for the subsequent 48 hours is that increased rainfall activity over the northeastern states is likely to continue and rainfall activity is likely to be subdued over remaining parts of the country.
As on the 10th of this month, total water storage in the 71 important reservoirs monitored by the Central Water Commission was 63 per cent of the full reservoir level (FRL) of 131.28 billion cubic meters. This was 111 per cent of the last year’s storage and 91 per cent of the average of the last ten years. There are 10 projects having storage upto 30 percent of designed storage. These are Tilaiya in Jharkhand, Vanivilas Sagar in Karnataka, Isapur and Yeldari in Mahrashtra, Vaigai in Tamil Nadu, Lower Maniar, and Somasila in Andhra Pradesh, and Sabarmati (Dharoi) and Dantiwada in Gujarat. 20 projects have more than 80 per cent of designed storage, 29 projects between 50 to 80 per cent and 12 projects have more than 30 per cent and up to 50 per cent of the designed storage.
The Crop Weather Watch Group meeting was informed that the ICAR and the National Centre for Medium Range Forecasting have been issuing advisories for farmers. The meeting emphasized the need to estimate the information to farmers through the extension machinery.
Yesterday’s meeting was presided over by Shri RS Pandey, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Cooperation and was attended, among others, by the representatives of the ICAR, departments of Consumer Affairs, Fertilizers and Economic Affairs, Indian Meteorological Department and Central water Commission.
|
