Over a fourth of India’s states face rain deficit despite the country getting surplus rainfall for nine straight days this monsoon season, data released by the India Meteorological Department shows.
The country’s rainfall surplus narrowed to 1.79 percent on July 31 from 2.04 percent the previous day.
Chandigarh and Manipur continue to be the hardest hit, with a deficit of more than over 50 percent from normal monsoon rainfall, the long-period average of 30 years for a specific region.
Despite normal rainfall in most parts of the country, sowing acreage was just 2.3 percent higher from the previous year as of July 26.
Rice sowing was flat at 216 million hectare, while pulses were 14 percent from the previous year. Major rice growing states such as Haryana and Punjab have over 40 percent rain deficit.
Coarse cereals sowing is up 5 percent, while jute and cotton are down 6.9 percent from the previous year. West Bengal, one of the major jute growing area, had a 12 percent deficit as of July 30.
Another reason for low sowing is uneven reservoir capacity. Reservoir levels improved to 4 percent below normal as of July 23 from 13 percent a week ago but Punjab, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh continued to be 50 percent short.
The government is hoping for a revival of the agricultural sector, which recorded 1.4 percent growth in FY24 compared to 4.7 percent in the previous year, also lower than the 3.7 percent long-term average.
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