India's Kharif Seeding Nearly Complete

VANCOUVER - Oct 5/07 - SNS -- Seeding of India's summer or kharif season pulses is nearly complete, with area now totalling 12.522 million hectares, up from 11.286 million last year.

Seeding of most crops is now complete, with initial kharif season harvest activity now being reported in the first areas to start planting crops this year.

This summer's kharif season rice area now totals 36.932 million hectares, up from 36.662 million at this time last year. Seeding is now virtually complete across the country, though some transplanting is still underway in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa and Tamil Nadu.

Total coarse grain coverage slipped from 22.062 to 21.986 million hectares. Within the sector, jowar area fell from 3.794 to 3.578 million hectares; bajra dropped from 9.286 to 8.699 million; and corn jumped from 6.844 to 7.455 million. Total oilseed plantings jumped from 16.472 to 17.605 million hectares.

Cotton area now totals 9.094 million hectares, up from 8.748 million last year, with 5.332 million under Bt Cotton. Sugarcane seedings rose from 4.832 to 5.104 million hectares; jute advanced from 818,000 top 829,000 hectares, with the harvest now complete in all states. Mesta plantings slipped from 153,000 to 148,000 hectares.

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