Indian farmers ramp up rice acres amid domestic supply concerns

NEW DELHI, Aug 27 (Reuters): Indian farmers have planted 38.4 million hectares (94.8 million acres) with rice, up 4.3 per cent on the same period last year, farm ministry data showed on Friday, as a revival in July monsoon rains and higher prices encouraged growers to boost acreage.

Higher rice planting could alleviate supply concerns in the world's second biggest producer of the grain.

Last month, India surprised buyers by imposing a ban on the export of widely consumed non-basmati white rice, following a ban on broken rice exports last year.

New Delhi's decision to ban overseas shipments of its largest rice export category would be likely to roughly halve shipments by the world's largest exporter of the grain.

Millions of India's growers start planting summer crops such as rice, corn, cotton, soybeans, sugarcane and peanuts from June 1, when monsoon rains typically begin lashing India. The monsoon is critical as nearly half of India's farmland lacks irrigation. For June and July together, India's monsoon rains were 5 per cent above average, falling 10 per cent below normal in June but rebounding to 13 per cent above average in July.

But summer rains turned patchy again this month, dragging down overall monsoon rains to 7 per cent below average since the season began on June 1. The weather office defines average, or normal, rainfall as between 96 per cent and 104 per cent of a 50-year average of 87 cm (35 inches) for the four-month

season.