Photo used for representation purpose only.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

The early onset of monsoon and record rainfall in May have resulted in robust progress in sowing activity in Karnataka, with the State surpassing not just the normal coverage level till June 7, but also the previous year’s coverage in the same period.

According to data provided by the Agriculture Department, that has set a target of sowing on 82.50 lakh hectares for the Khariff season, 20.42 lakh hectares have been covered till June 13 as against the normal coverage level of 11.957 lakh hectares for this period. This is 171% of the normal level till June 13.

It is marginally higher than the coverage in the previous year (20.221 lakh hectares), which too had seen enthusiastic agricultural operations fuelled by a good monsoon after a disappointing year of drought.

An analysis of the progress with respect to overall target for the Kharif season shows that the State has already achieved 25% of its Kharif sowing target.

The early onset of South West Monsoon, which is the mainstay for agricultural operations in a majority of areas of Karnataka, is being cited as the main reason for this “robust” progress.

Karnataka Agriculture Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy attributed it also to the measures taken by the government to ensure that there is no shortage of agricultural inputs particularly fertilisers and sowing seeds. “I am personally monitoring the availability of agricultural inputs on a daily basis along with senior officials. We managed to procure soya bean seeds from other states in right time to make up for shortage,” he told The Hindu.

The South West Monsoon not only entered the state nearly 10 days earlier than the normal onset this year, but also remained vigorous with the State witnessing a 124-year-old record rainfall in May.

Experts and officials said agricultural operations require good and regular rainfall spread over different phases of crop cycle rather than a record heavy rainfall at just one stage. However, the predictions of good rainfall for the months of June and July have triggered hopes of this Kharif season too turning out to be bountiful like the previous one that saw food production surpassing the target.

Food production

The State had achieved a foodgrains production of 153.12 lakh tonne during 2024-25. This time, the Agriculture Department has set a target of 148.48 lakh tonnes comprising both the Kharif and Rabi seasons. Agriculture Department Director G. T. Putra is optimistic that foodgrains production for the present year may not only surpass the target, but also the previous year’s level. The sowing coverage is bound to increase sharply in the next few weeks as several areas in north Karnataka, which are witnessing rainfall now, he said.

If the prediction comes true, Karnataka will be registering its second highest food grains production as the highest so far has been 160.27 lakh tonnes during the Covid period.