The area under kharif crops across the country in the 2023-24 (Jul-Jun) season was at 110.3 mln ha as of Friday, compared with 110.0 mln ha a year ago, according to data from the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The acreage of paddy, the key grain in the kharif season, was up 2.7% on year at 41.2 mln ha. Paddy sowing has picked up pace in the last few weeks, aided by rainfall across the country. Central and south peninsular India have received adequate rainfall since the beginning of September, after weak monsoon rains in August. The weather department has projected that rainfall in September will be normal at 91-109% of the long-period average, with normal to above-normal precipitation over east and northeast India and some areas of east-central and south peninsular regions. The area under coarse cereals was at 18.6 mln ha, slightly higher than 18.4 mln ha a year ago, the data showed. The area under oilseeds was down 2% at 19.3 mln ha, while pulses acreage fell 5% to 12.3 mln ha. Sowing of pulses has taken a hit this season because erratic rainfall in key growing regions made farmers shift to more remunerative crops such as soybean and small millets. Soybean acreage in the country was 1% higher on year as of today, according to the data. The area under cotton was down 3% at 12.3 mln ha. Meanwhile, acreage of sugarcane was 8% higher at nearly 6 mln ha as of today, the data showed. There have been concerns that sugarcane production in India may be hit next season, and there will be a shortage of sugar supply from the current season. However, the government has reiterated that the country has adequate stock of sugar to cover domestic demand for more than three months. The country had 8.3 mln tn of sugar stock as of Aug 31, the government said. In its preliminary estimate on Aug 2, the Indian Sugar Mills Association pegged the country's net sugar output in 2023-24 (Oct-Sep) at 31.7 mln tn, down 3.4% from 32.8 mln tn in the ongoing season. As for sunflower, sowing in the current kharif season was lagging by a whopping 65% on year as of today. Major sunflower growing states such as Maharashtra and Karnataka have received deficient rains so far this monsoon season, according to data from the India Meteorological Department. This has taken a major toll on sowing of the crop. The withdrawal of southwest monsoon current from parts of west Rajasthan is likely to start from Sep 25, about 10 days later than the usual date of Sep 15, as conditions are becoming favourable, the India Meteorological Department said on Friday. "Due to anti-cyclonic flow developing over northwest India at lower tropospheric levels and dry weather prevailing over parts of southwest Rajasthan, conditions are becoming favourable for withdrawal of southwest monsoon from parts of west Rajasthan from around 25th September," the IMD said. The weather department said that reduced rainfall activity over northwest and the adjoining parts of westcentral India is likely to continue during the next five days. The IMD has changed the normal date of monsoon withdrawal from Sep 1 to Sep 15 since there has been a trend of delayed monsoon over the past few years, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, the director general of meteorology at the India Meteorological Department told Informist earlier in an interview