India’s kharif sowing deficit dips below 2% as overall coverage rises to 88% of normal

As of August 7, India's kharif sowing deficit has dipped below 2%, while overall coverage has risen to 88% of the normal area, according to the latest update from the Agriculture Ministry. The South-West Monsoon rainfall deficit since June 1 stands at 88% of normal, which could potentially lead to further increases in the sowing area before the planting window closes.

Farmers have sown kharif crops on nearly 74 lakh hectares (lh) during August 1-7, compared to 65.17 lh a year ago. This higher sowing in the past week has helped narrow the overall deficit, which was nearly 3% until July 31. The sowing area in the ongoing kharif season has reached 967.92 lh as of August 7, down by 1.8% from the year-ago period of 985.89 lh.

The current coverage is 87.6% of the season's normal area of 1104.46 lh. State-wise data show that the area in most key growing States is slightly below the year-ago levels, except in Uttar Pradesh, where the cane area is almost the same. However, the kharif season's main cereal, paddy, is down by 4.2% at 344.78 lh against 360.67 lh a year ago, indicating slow progress in transplanting during the past week.

The government has set a production target of 123.15 million tonnes (mt) for rice in kharif 2026, and the lower area deficit may not lead to any significant shortfall.