News Capsule: Kharif Sowing Gains Momentum as Monsoon Improves, But Acreage Still Trails Last Year
14-Jul-2026 10:10 AM
News Capsule: Kharif Sowing Gains Momentum as Monsoon Improves, But Acreage Still Trails Last Year
★ The pace of kharif sowing accelerated during the week ended July 10 as the southwest monsoon strengthened across several parts of the country. As a result, the year-on-year sowing gap narrowed to 16%, compared with nearly 21% a week earlier. Despite the improvement, the acreage shortfall remains large enough to raise concerns over the final kharif harvest.
★ A key concern is that rainfall activity has weakened after a brief spell of widespread showers. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), subdued rainfall is likely to continue over the plains of northwest India, west-central India and south Peninsular India during the next six to seven days.
★ Government data as of July 10 showed that the area sown under all major kharif crops—including paddy, pulses, coarse cereals, oilseeds and cotton—remained below last year's level, although the gap narrowed compared with July 5.
★ Paddy, the country's main kharif foodgrain crop, was sown over an area about 9% lower than a year ago. Experts believe that if rainfall improves in the coming weeks, much of the deficit in paddy acreage could be recovered. However, the situation remains more challenging for pulses and oilseeds.
★ As of July 10, pulses acreage was 23.3% lower than the corresponding period last year, while coarse cereals lagged by 22.5%. Oilseeds were sown over 11.78 million hectares, down 21% year-on-year, while cotton acreage was 15.3% lower than the same period last year.
★ Meanwhile, water availability in reservoirs improved significantly during the week ended July 9. Water levels increased in all 166 major reservoirs monitored by the government. Reservoirs in western India held water levels 48% above the 10-year average. Although overall storage remains below last year's level, it is higher than the long-term average.
★ As of July 9, live storage in the 166 reservoirs had risen to 32.38% of their total live storage capacity, up from 26% a week earlier. The improvement is expected to provide better irrigation support and offer some relief to kharif crops in the coming weeks.