Excess July rains trigger sharp rebound in Maharashtra’s Kharif sowing

Maharashtra received 340.9 mm of rainfall in July against the normal 288.2 mm, an excess of 18.2%.

Kharif sowing covered 117.68 lakh hectares (82% of normal area) as of late July, rebounding from just 11.2 lakh hectares in June.

State agriculture minister Dattatray Bharne said abundant July rainfall proved a boon for farmers, with sowing progressing robustly.

Agriculture commissioner Suraj Mandhare noted the recovery reflects farmer resilience and that the department registered over 200 FIRs for seed manipulation.