All major Kharif crops except sugarcane and cotton have exhibited lower sowing as of 25th July than the normal sowing for this corresponding week each year. The report states that sugarcane has found 2.7 lakh hectares more (as compared to the normal) of land for its sowing, while sowing of cotton is 4.5 lakh hectares more than the normal. The sowing of sugarcane is also lower than it was in 2018, though the sowing of groundnuts, while lower than the normal, is 1.4 lakh hectares up from what it was in 2018.
A negative deviation of 32.1 lakh hectares was recorded in the cultivation of rice, along with a deviation of -43.9 lakh hectares for cereals as a whole. Despite increases in the minimum support price of crops from 50% up to 85%, sowing is much lower than the normal for this time of the year. Bajra, which received an 85% increase in its minimum support price, also saw 7.6 lakh hectares less than the normal of area sown. The sowing of foodgrains has experienced a deviation of 57.0 lakh hectares lower the normal at the corresponding period of the year. The rate of food inflation is presently nearing 7%, and the effects of the weak monsoon on lowering the rate of crop cultivation is expected to push up the already-high rate even further.
