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Informist, Wednesday, Jun. 17, 2026

 

MUMBAI – Sowing of kharif crops in Maharashtra is off to a slow start this year, with delay in the onset of the monsoon over the state and absence of adequate pre-monsoon showers to replenish soil moisture. As of Monday, kharif crops were sown across 143,940 hectares, down 66% from 423,875 hectares a year ago, according to a report released by the state agriculture department. Of the normal area of 15.75 million hectares for the season, only around 1% has been covered so far. 

 

The southwest monsoon trough, which hit Kerala on Jun. 4, lost steam as it advanced northwards over the country. While it has continued to inch over the eastern parts of India, it came to a halt over the western parts on Jun. 8 after advancing over and covering Goa. Only the southernmost parts of Maharashtra have been covered by the trough, but conditions have been unfavourable to trigger any rainfall over the region, leaving it largely dry. During Jun. 1–16, Maharashtra recorded 21.6 millimetres of rainfall, which is 75?low normal for the period, data from the India Meteorological Department showed.

 

Paddy acreage in the state so far was down at 4,804 hectares from 19,007 hectares a year ago, according to the data. The area under maize also slipped to 10,216 hectares from 33,095 hectares, and that under bajra plunged to 588 hectares from 26,455 hectares a year ago. 

 

The area sown with tur slipped to 2,953 hectares from 25,970 hectares a year ago, the data showed. The acreage of moong was down at 293 hectares from 25,469 hectares, and that of urad fell to 236 hectares from 46,392 hectares a year ago. The total area under all pulses was 3,526 hectares, down from 99,082 hectares a year ago.

 

The total area under all oilseeds so far was 8,362 hectares, down from 106,033 hectares a year ago, according to the data. The acreage of soybean declined to 7,988 hectares from 102,039 hectares a year ago, while that of groundnut was down at 339 hectares from 3,912 hectares.

 

Cotton acreage was down at 112,089 hectares from 132,712 hectares a year ago, the data showed.

 

Kharif crops are sown at the beginning of the southwest monsoon season around June and harvested around October. As of Wednesday, the water level in dams of Maharashtra was over 24% of their live storage capacity, down from nearly 32% a year ago, according to data from the state water resource department.  End

 

Reported by Shreya Shetty

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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