JAIPUR, India, - High temperatures, a lack of soil moisture and a lack of water in reservoirs have delayed sowing of rapeseed by a month in India's main producing state of Rajasthan, state government officials said on Friday.
Traders said the delay was likely to hit India's rapeseed output, about half of which is grown in Rajasthan and which meets about 15 percent of edible oil demand in the world's leading importer of vegetable oils.
"Rapeseed has only been sown in about 2 percent area till date as against about 30 percent sowing normally due to abnormally high temperatures and lack of moisture in the soil this year," Harbans Singh Yadav, additional director in the state farm department, told Reuters.
Rapeseed output in India, the world's fourth-biggest producer, was 7.4 million tonnes in the 2008/09 crop year, up 28 percent from the previous year. Of this, Rajasthan produced 3.5 million tonnes.
India's rapeseed crop year runs from July to June. Early-sown varieties of the oilseed are normally planted from mid-September to mid-October in the state, while late-maturing grades are sown until mid-November.
This year the sowing has just begun and would only pick up as temperatures start falling, Yadav said.
"Rapeseed is expected to be sown in about 2.5 million hectares area this year as sowing will continue up to October end," Yadav said.
Last month, the state farm department had set a target of 2.6 million hectares area coverage for the rapeseed crop this season, down 3.7 percent from 2.7 million hectares last year.
V.S. Nain, another official from Sriganganagar, the producing hub of Rajasthan, said in the past 4-5 years sowing of the oilseed has picked up around October 15, when the average temperature dips to 25-28 degrees.
"Usually, 30 to 40 percent sowing gets completed in Sriganganagar area by this time. However, it is yet to begin this year," Lal said, adding that the output could be lower than the farm department's current estimate of 3.1 million tonnes.
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