Kharif may turn out to be better: Rating agency India Ratings
Likely to beat 2014 output
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-07-21 03:40 GMT
Chennai: If the current monsoon pattern continues for the rest of the months, kharif (monsoon crops) production for this year is likely to cross of last year’s level, says rating agency India Ratings. The factors that could help achieve this feat includes higher sowing of kharif food grains, increased acreage under pulses and higher reservoir levels this year compared to last year.
Kharif food grains represent close to half of the total food grain output in India. Sowing of this crop was 63 per cent higher by mid-July this year than in the corresponding period last year. “Although this was because the monsoon was bad last year, currently the sowing area is 8.72 per cent higher than the normal kharif sowing area,” noted the IndRa.
Total kharif crop sowing area by mid-July this year was 56.33 million hectares compared with 34.63 million hectares in the corresponding period last year. Sowing of key crops such as rice, pulses and oilseeds is higher this time. Sowing of rice is 4.4 per cent higher than last financial year but is 11.4 per cent lower than normal sowing. In pulses, sowing is 134 per cent higher than in last year and 36 per cent higher than normal sowing.