With early onset of Monsoon, Karnataka sees robust progress in sowing as coverage surpasses normal and last year’s figures

Robust progress in Karnataka's sowing activity surpasses previous year's coverage, attributed to early monsoon onset and government measures.

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.