New Delhi: Farm production may go down a
bit this Kharif due to late and "below-normal" monsoon but the
fall is unlikely to be substantial as the sowing season is far
from over, said state-owned Indian Agricultural Research
Institute.
"We expect a slight dip in production but it won`t be
significant. We have developed drought-resistant seed
varieties (for some crops), which would be of great help,"
IARI Director H S Gupta said. However, he refused to specify
the amount by which the output is likely to fall short from
the previous season.
The fall in the output is not going to be substantial as
farmers can sow paddy till July-end, groundnut, sunflower and
soyabean till August and maize till September, so even if the
monsoon is delayed in some parts, it won`t have much impact on
the output, Gupta said.
India is estimated to have produced 118.79 million tonnes
of food grains, including 85.46 million tonnes of rice, and
18.17 million tonnes of oilseeds during Kharif 2008-09.
Gupta`s assertion assumes importance as it comes amid a
series of bad news on monsoon and acreage.
Of the 36 meteorological sub-divisions in the country, 21
have received normal-to-excess rains while 15 have witnessed
deficient or scanty rainfall, according to the weather office.
Western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi,
Punjab, Himachal and parts of Gujarat are among the worst
affected with a deficiency of over 60 per cent.
Moreover, the sowing area under paddy has dipped by close
to 20 per cent to 74.28 lakh hectares till July 10, compared
with 92.35 lakh hectares in the year-ago period, according to
the data released by the government.
The area under oilseed coverage has dipped to 56.07 lakh
hectares against 86.11 lakh hectares during the review period.
Farm scientists have also developed hydrogel, which can
retain water and nutrients for a long period and can be of
great help during scanty rainfall, Gupta said.
Bureau Report
