With the monsoon picking up pace in the latter half of July, crop sowing accelerated to hit 75% of the normal sown area, and as on July 26 was 2.3% higher than a year earlier, led by upticks in the sown area of pulses, cereals and oil seeds, Bank of Baroda economist Sonal Badhan wrote in a research report on Tuesday.

As of July 29, the Southwest monsoon rainfall was 2% more than its long period average. However, 25% of the country across 10 States still experienced deficient rainfall, she noted. Moreover, reservoir levels stood at 39% of total capacity as on July 25, much lower than the 47% mark last year. Only the southern and eastern regions had higher reservoir levels compared with last year, at 50% and 28%, respectively. 

With pulses prices showing a sharp double-digit rise over the past year, sown area for the crop had risen 14.1%. with arhar sowing up 34.1% and moong rising 12.4%, Ms. Badhan observed.

The sown area for oilseeds was up 3.8%, with sunflower rising 30.4% and groundnut 13.7% higher. However, paddy cultivation was fractionally lower than last year, while cotton and jute sowing was 6.9% lower.