Uncertain condition of Kharif crops
13-Sep-2025 11:47 AM
The sowing campaign of Kharif crops has reached its final stage and now it is difficult to expand its area much further. Generally, the Kharif cultivation season is considered to be till the third week of September and early sowing of Rabi crops starts from the fourth week.
In the initial stage, farmers can focus on mustard cultivation because its market price is quite high and they are getting attractive income.
As far as the current Kharif season is concerned, the condition of its crops remains uncertain. Of course, this time the sowing area of Kharif crops has increased by about 2.7 percent and its gross production area has increased by 26.93 lakh hectares from 1078.50 lakh hectares last year and reached the top level of 1105.43 lakh hectares this time, which is 8 lakh hectares more than the normal average area of 1097 lakh hectares.
It is a well known fact that only increase in sown area does not guarantee increase in production, rather it is also necessary for the weather and monsoon to be favourable and to keep the crops safe from natural calamities. In the current Kharif season, only the area has increased and that too of crops like paddy and maize.
No doubt, this time there was good rainfall at national level in the south-west monsoon season, but due to heavy surplus rains in many areas, the fields remained filled with water for a long time and severe floods were also seen in some areas.
In the areas where there has been normal rainfall, the condition of Kharif crops is quite good and the yield rate can remain higher than the average level.
But in the areas where there is surplus rain and floods, there is a danger to the crops. Looking at this, it seems that despite a good increase in sown area, the total production of Kharif crops may be around last year.
Official data shows that till 5th September this year, compared to the same period last year, paddy production area jumped from 418.66 lakh hectare to 438.28 lakh hectare, pulses sowing area improved from 114.46 lakh hectare to 116.40 lakh hectare and coarse cereals area increased from 179.62 lakh hectare to 191.71 lakh hectare,
but area under oilseeds crops decreased from 192.21 lakh hectare to 186.98 lakh hectare. Among commercial crops, sugarcane production area has increased by 1.63 lakh hectare, but cotton sowing area has decreased by about 3 lakh hectare to 109.17 lakh hectare.