AGL 40.00 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
AIRLINK 129.06 Decreased By ▼ -0.47 (-0.36%)
BOP 6.75 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (1.05%)
CNERGY 4.49 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-3.02%)
DCL 8.55 Decreased By ▼ -0.39 (-4.36%)
DFML 40.82 Decreased By ▼ -0.87 (-2.09%)
DGKC 80.96 Decreased By ▼ -2.81 (-3.35%)
FCCL 32.77 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
FFBL 74.43 Decreased By ▼ -1.04 (-1.38%)
FFL 11.74 Increased By ▲ 0.27 (2.35%)
HUBC 109.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.97 (-0.88%)
HUMNL 13.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.81 (-5.56%)
KEL 5.31 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-1.48%)
KOSM 7.72 Decreased By ▼ -0.68 (-8.1%)
MLCF 38.60 Decreased By ▼ -1.19 (-2.99%)
NBP 63.51 Increased By ▲ 3.22 (5.34%)
OGDC 194.69 Decreased By ▼ -4.97 (-2.49%)
PAEL 25.71 Decreased By ▼ -0.94 (-3.53%)
PIBTL 7.39 Decreased By ▼ -0.27 (-3.52%)
PPL 155.45 Decreased By ▼ -2.47 (-1.56%)
PRL 25.79 Decreased By ▼ -0.94 (-3.52%)
PTC 17.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.96 (-5.2%)
SEARL 78.65 Decreased By ▼ -3.79 (-4.6%)
TELE 7.86 Decreased By ▼ -0.45 (-5.42%)
TOMCL 33.73 Decreased By ▼ -0.78 (-2.26%)
TPLP 8.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.66 (-7.28%)
TREET 16.27 Decreased By ▼ -1.20 (-6.87%)
TRG 58.22 Decreased By ▼ -3.10 (-5.06%)
UNITY 27.49 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.22%)
WTL 1.39 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.72%)
BR100 10,445 Increased By 38.5 (0.37%)
BR30 31,189 Decreased By -523.9 (-1.65%)
KSE100 97,798 Increased By 469.8 (0.48%)
KSE30 30,481 Increased By 288.3 (0.95%)

Indian farmers have planted 78.8 million hectares with summer-sown crops so far, farm ministry data showed on Friday, down 6.6% from last year mainly due to a weak start to the monsoon. The outlook is better, however, as monsoon rains are expected to be plentiful in August and September. Farmers generally start planting rice, corn, cotton, soybeans, sugarcane and peanuts, among other crops, from June 1, when monsoon rains typically arrive in India. Sowing usually lasts until July.
Monsoon rains play a crucial role in agriculture - which employs 50% of India's workforce - as nearly half of the country's farmland lacks irrigation. The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare will keep updating the provisional sowing figures as it gathers more information from state governments. The planting figures are also subject to revision depending on progress of the June-September monsoon season.
Planting of rice, the key summer crop, was at 22.3 million hectares on Friday, against 25.5 million hectares at the same time last year, the ministry said. Corn planting was at 6.9 million hectares, unchanged from the same period last year.
The area planted with cotton totalled 11.5 million hectares, up from 11 million hectares a year earlier.
Sowing of soybeans, the main summer oilseed crop, stood at 10.7 million hectares, compared with 10.9 million hectares at the same time in 2018.
Other crop plantings, such as pulses and sugar cane, were down year on year.
Seasonal rains in the week that ended on Wednesday were above average for the second time since the start of the season on June 1.
The weather office said on Thursday that monsoon rains were expected to be 100% of a long-term average in August and September, making up for a shortfall in the first two months of the season that began in June. That would boost prospects for the agricultural sector.

Copyright Reuters, 2015

Comments

Comments are closed.