Exclusive : UP Kharif Acreage Reaches Above 91 Lakh Ha

Delhi (Commoditiescontrol) - Crop sowing during the ongoing kharif season in Uttar Pradesh covered more than 91 lakh hectares so far, but it is still lagging behind the state government target. Not only that total crop sowing is also lower than previous year. This is despite the fact that the state faced natures fury in hailstorm in recent times.

An exclusive data accessed by Commoditiescontrol revealed that the total sowing covered so far in the current season has reached 96 per cent of the target acreage fixed by the state government.

The Agriculture Department of Uttar Pradesh released its kharif crops sowing data on August 11, 2015. As per the data, total kharif crops acreage was around 91.72 lakh hectares, as of August 7, 2015 while the government’s target for the season is at 96.17 lakh hectares and the acreage in the same period, last year was at 91.85lakh hectares.

Interesting trends are emerging from the data. Sowing of Sesame, Maize and Jowar has surpassed targeted acreage while other key crops namely paddy, Bajra, Urad, Moong, Arhar and Peanuts have crossed over 90 per cent of targeted acreage. Soybean sowing is lagging far-behind target at 61 per cent or 0.32 Lakh hectare (Ha).

Paddy sowing in 57.17 Lakh Ha is over 62 per cent of total acreage in Uttar Pradesh. The crop continues to dominate other given its vast arable land and adequate water supply. Bajra, Maize, Urad are other key crops that are cultivated in the state.

Interestingly, Sesame sowing has leaped this year given the higher price prospect and low carry-forward stock in the county. Alternatively, the demand from overseas buyers has suffered recently due to availability of cheaper substitutes.

In India, crop sowing decision largely dependents upon minimum support price (MSP) set by the Central or State Government. Recently, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) affected a modest increase of Rs 50 in the MSP of the key Kharif crop paddy taking it up from Rs 1,360 per quintal to Rs 1,410 per quintal for the 2015-16 kharif season. Further, the government set a target of procuring 300 Lakh tonnes of rice during the next kharif marketing season (2015-16) starting from October 1.

The Food Corporation of India (FCI), the nodal agency for food-grain procurement and distribution, has purchased 320 Lakh tonnes of rice so far in 2014-15 marketing year (October-September). The corporation had set 305 Lakh tonnes of rice procurement target last fiscal.

Recently, the Centre approved release of Rs 2,801.59 crore as relief for Uttar Pradesh's hailstorm-affected farmers. The high-level committee on central assistance to states affected by natural disasters decided that the entire fund will go to the UP state disaster relief fund and the state government will distribute the compensation amount to farmers as per the damaged crops.

Crop-wise Acreage In Uttar Pradesh As On August 7,2015

(Acreage in thousand hectare)