India Land Devoted To Crops Drops 12% As Rains Come Late

Indian farmers have planted monsoon crops such as rice, cotton and soybeans on 61.19 million hectares (151 million acres) of land as of July 16, a decline of 12% from a year earlier, according to the farm ministry, Pratik Parija reported for Bloomberg News.

Rice was cultivated in 16.2 million hectares of land, down 7.1% from the previous 17.44 million hectares. The total hectarage for corn was 5.89 million hectares from 6.38 million hectares, for a 7.7% reduction while land devoted to soybeans was slashed to 9.32 million hectares from 10.58 million, for a huge 11.9% slash.

Area under sugarcane has risen almost 1.7% to 5.37 million hectares so far this year, while cotton has been planted in 9.84 million hectares, down 13% from a year earlier, the ministry said late Friday.

India’s June-September monsoon rains were 7% below average in the week ended July 14, according to the India Meteorological Department. Sowing of monsoon-sown crops normally begins in late May and peaks in July while harvesting starts in late September.

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