Ranchi: With the low-pressure area over and around Jharkhand weakening, the incessant rain that lashed several parts of the state over the past few days is expected to ease, bringing some respite to residents. Ranchi Met office on Wednesday issued only a heavy rain warning, a yellow alert, at isolated places in four of the state’s 24 districts — Garhwa, Palamu, Chatra and Latehar — till Thursday morning.Baburaj PP, scientist and head of Ranchi Met office, said there are possibilities of thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds at isolated places across the state till Sept 5.Meanwhile, Jharkhand’s Kharif sowing has crossed the three-fourths mark, with farmers covering 76.06% of the targeted acreage by Aug 31, even as oilseeds, coarse cereals and pulses continue to trail the main cereal crops.According to Agriculture Directorate’s Aug 31 report, farmers had brought 21.30 lakh hectares under Kharif crops against the target of 28.01 lakh hectares. The achievement leaves a gap of about 6.70 lakh hectares to be covered in the remaining sowing period.“The percentage is better than last year,” an official of the department said on condition of anonymity.Paddy and maize have emerged as the main drivers of the season’s progress. Paddy coverage stood at 14.53 lakh hectares, or 80.72% of its 18 lakh-hectare target. Maize performed slightly better at 81.62%, with 2.33 lakh hectares sown against a target of 2.86 lakh hectares.Progress was weaker in other crop groups. Pulses covered 63.98% of the targeted area, while coarse cereals reached 57.65%. Oilseeds were the biggest laggard, with 27,728 hectares sown against a target of 60,000 hectares, or 46.21%.Rainfall explains part of the sowing pattern. The state received 2,766.6 mm against the normal 3,111.5 mm, amounting to 88.92% of normal during the period covered by the report.District performance remained uneven. Lohardaga and Ramgarh appeared to have crossed their Kharif targets, while Sahibganj was close to full coverage. Palamu and Bokaro recorded substantially lower coverage, with several districts below the state average.
