India’s total kharif area on August 7 was 967.92 lakh hectares, down 17.96 lakh from 985.89 lakh hectares recorded in the same period last year. This represents a shortfall of about 1.8 percent.
The gap has shrunk in recent weeks. On July 24, kharif acreage was almost 5 percent below last year’s level, but by early August it was only 2 percent behind.
Rice is still the biggest contributor to the deficit. Paddy sowing reached 344.78 lakh hectares, which is 4.4 percent lower than the 360.67 lakh hectares planted last year.
Pulses have also fallen slightly, yet the difference has lessened. Farmers planted 103.78 lakh hectares of pulses compared with 105.73 lakh hectares a year ago, a decline of 1.8 percent.
Other crops show similar trends. Arhar area dropped by 2.61 lakh hectares to 37.53 lakh hectares, moong fell by 1.84 lakh hectares, and coarse cereals were 2.7 percent behind last year at 168.50 lakh hectares. Maize, which accounted for most of the shortfall, saw a decline of 3.48 lakh hectares to 87.15 lakh hectares.
Oilseeds have risen, becoming a bright spot for this season. The area under oilseeds grew to 180.20 lakh hectares from 175.01 lakh hectares last year, a 3 percent increase. Groundnut acreage rose by 3.71 lakh hectares, soybean coverage edged up by 0.26 lakh hectares, and sesame increased by 1.44 lakh hectares.
Monsoon rains have improved but remain below average. From June 1 to August 5, India received 434.5 mm of rainfall, 11 percent shy of the 491 mm normal.
Regional rainfall patterns vary. East and northeast India suffered a 27 percent deficit, the southern peninsula 18 percent, and northwest India 12 percent. Central India, however, enjoyed a 2 percent surplus with 559.9 mm of rain against a normal of 549.1 mm.
In the week ending August 5, the southern peninsula received 39 percent more rain than normal, central India 14 percent more, and east and northeast India saw a 2 percent surplus. Northwest India remained 22 percent below normal.
Reservoirs have recovered somewhat but are still below both last year’s and normal levels. Of the 166 reservoirs monitored, live storage was 96.97 billion cubic metres, or 52.82 percent of capacity. This is 73.25 percent of last year’s level and 97.13 percent of the 10‑year average.
With most kharif sowing completed, attention will shift to how rainfall is distributed during the growing season and how reservoir levels affect irrigation, especially in areas where both rainfall and storage remain below normal.