New Delhi, July 7 -- Kharif sowing gathered modest pace over the past week as the southwest monsoon strengthened across parts of the country, narrowing the acreage deficit to 20.8% as of July 5 from 22.7% a week earlier. Experts expect planting to accelerate further this week as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast rainfall across key agricultural regions over the next five days. Agriculture ministry data showed that Kharif crops had been sown across 44.3 million hectares by July 5. However, acreage under all major crops, including rice, pulses, coarse cereals, oilseeds and cotton, remained below last year's levels after the delayed onset and uneven progress of the monsoon slowed planting during June. Paddy acreage declined 13% year-on-year to 6 million hectares. Oilseeds recorded the steepest fall, with sowing down nearly 40% to 6.6 million hectares. Soybean, India's largest oilseed crop, accounted for much of the decline, with acreage falling almost 40% to 4.8 million hectares. Cotton acreage was down 23%, while pulses recorded a 22% decline. Sugarcane was the only major crop to buck the trend, with acreage rising 1.5% to 5.8 million hectares. Economist Ramesh Chand said the sowing pattern reflected the varying dependence of crops on rainfall. "About three-fourths of the area under rice is irrigated, compared with barely 9% for soybean. The acreage numbers reflect this difference. The same relationship holds true for pulses," he said. Although the IMD expects July rainfall to be 94% of the long-period average (LPA), experts said the timing and spatial distribution of rainfall will matter more than the monthly total. "So far, about 340 districts are rain deficient, while 64 are largely deficient. For several crops, what is needed is a round of rain to replenish soil moisture before sowing, followed by intermittent rainfall. Even districts that remain rain deficient can recover if they receive timely showers," said former agriculture secretary Devesh Chaturvedi....