KOLKATA: Research firm ICRA said that kharif crops sowing this season may exceed the level of last year by a reasonable margin.

Aided by favourable monsoon, kharif sowing has been completed on 76 per cent of the normal sown area and is up by a rise of four per cent year-on-year as of July 2025, ICRA said in its latest report.

Sown during the rainy season months of June and July, the kharif crops are mainly moong, rice and maize.

The IMD forecast of above-normal rainfall during August and September augurs well for the continued sowing of kharif crops, and the replenishment of reservoirs will favour the sowing during the rabi season from October to March, the report said.

According to the ICRA report, India received above-normal rainfall during July 2025.

The quantum of rainfall during the entire Southwest Monsoon season is estimated to exceed 106 per cent of the long period average (LPA), the report also said.

ICRA estimates the gross value added (GVA) growth of agriculture, forestry and fishing during the first quarter of 2025-26 to be around 4.5 per cent.

Also growth in real rural wages increased to four per cent in May 2025 from zero levels in January 2025. This will help in boosting rural consumption demand, the report said.