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* Farmers in the country have sown summer crops across 6.8 mln ha as of Friday, up nearly 6% from 6.4 mln ha last year, data from the agriculture ministry showed. The acreage under rice, maize, pulses, and oil seeds is higher than last year, despite below-normal rainfall and depletion of water in key reservoirs across the country. But experts say more than usual heatwave days during Apr-Jun are likely to affect the harvest of summer crops. India Meteorological Department today said that heatwave conditions have been prevailing in Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal since Apr 15 and Apr 17, respectively. The weather bureau has also said that a few places in Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam, Karnataka, and Bihar witnessed heatwave on Thursday. The weather bureau has said that different parts of the country could see more than usual number of heatwave days during Apr-Jun. It expects 10–20 days of heatwave conditions in different parts of the country in Apr-Jun, compared with the normal 4-8 days. According to the weather office, the areas most prone to experience increased heatwaves are Gujarat, Madhya Maharashtra, Maharashtra, north Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, north Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh. The rise in temperature would hurt production of zaid crops, leading to a fall in yield and rise in prices, experts said. Water level across India's 150 primary reservoirs was 53.358 bcm as of today, down 18% from a year ago and 4% from the average of past 10 years, the Central Water Commission said. The current water level is 30% of the total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Acreage under pulses was up 1% on year at 1.63 mln ha, with sowing of moong rising to 1.33 mln ha from 1.28 mln ha last year. However, the area under urad is down 5% on year to 285,000 ha. The area under rice is up to 3 mln ha from 2.7 mln ha last year. The area under oilseeds has risen to 1.0 mln ha from 971,000 ha last year.

* The Cotton Association of India has retained its projection for the country's cotton output in 2023-24 (Oct-Sep) at 31 mln bales (1 bale = 170 kg), according to a release. The association updates its estimates almost every month, based on information received from its members in 11 cotton-growing states and other trade sources. Production of cotton in the north zone, which comprises Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan, is estimated at 4.6 mln bales, up 300,000 bales from last year. As of Mar 31, production in the region was 4.2 mln bales. The estimate for the central zone, which comprises Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh, is 18.5 mln bales, down from 19.5 mln bales last year. As of Mar 31, 15.3 mln bales of cotton had been produced in this zone. The estimate for the south zone is also seen lower at 7.3 mln bales compared to 7.5 mln bales last year. As of Mar 31, production here was 6.3 mln bales. Other states account for the rest of the output. The opening stock for the season starting October was estimated at 2.9 mln bales, the association said. The total supply of cotton for the 2023-24 season is estimated at 35.9 mln bales, up from 35.5 mln bales a year ago. The association has estimated imports in 2023-24 at 2.04 mln bales, higher than the 1.25 mln bales imported in 2022-23. Total supply till the end of March 2024 is estimated at 29.7 mln bales. The association has estimated domestic consumption in 2023-24 at 31.7 mln bales, up from 31.1 mln bales the previous year. It pegged exports at 2.2 mln bales, up from 1.6 mln bales the previous cotton season. Consumption till Mar 31 is estimated at 16.5 mln bales.

* Sowing for moong has risen 3.3% on year to 1.3 mln ha during the summer, while acreage of urad was down 5.3% on year at 285,000 ha, according to India Pulses and Grains Association market update today, citing the data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Acreage for moong was the highest in Madhya Pradesh at 693,000 ha, up from 602,000 ha last year, while acreage growth in percentage terms was the most in Odisha, up 104.4% on year at 188,000 ha from 92,000 ha. Moong acreage in Bihar fell 58% on year to 115,000 ha from 275,000 ha, according to the update. Similarly, acreage under urad in Uttar Pradesh was at 66,000 ha, up 1.5% on year from 65,000 ha. In Tamil Nadu, urad acreage was at 65,000 ha, down from 76,000 ha last year, while acreage in Odisha rose 73% on year to 52,000 ha from 30,000 ha, the update said. Urad acreage in Madhya Pradesh fell 21.6% to 40,000 ha, it added.

* India's oilseed production in 2023-24 is estimated at 36.6 mln tn, according to a research paper by India Brand Equity Foundation, a Trust established by the Department of Commerce under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Pointing out that India is the fourth-largest oilseeds producer in the world, the paper said the country has 20.8% of the total area under cultivation globally, accounting for 10% of global production. India produces groundnut, soybean, sunflower, sesamum, niger seed, mustard and safflower oilseeds. The major oilseed-producing states are Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana. Nearly 72% of the oilseeds area is restricted to rainfed farming done by small farmers, which leads to poor productivity. However, a breakthrough was realised in oilseed production by introducing new crop production technologies and various initiatives like Targeted Rice Fallow Area oilseeds, National Food Security Mission oilseeds, the paper said. The production of oilseeds in India has been growing for the last five years, the report said. In 2022-23, oilseed production was at 41.4 mln tn compared to 38.0 mln tn in 2021-22. The production of oilseeds during 2022-23 was higher by 7.3 mln tn than the average output of 34 mln tn over the past five years, the research paper said. From the year 2015-16 to 2022-23, the compound annual growth rate of oilseed production was 7.3%, it said. During Apr-Feb, India exported oilseed worth $1.30 bln. In 2022-23, oilseeds worth $1.33 bln were exported, which was the highest in the last ten years, the paper said.

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