MC Daily Monsoon Tracker: Rainfall surplus increases further to 5.7%; nine states face a deficit

Rainfall situation improves further

India’s rainfall surplus increased further to 5.7 percent as of August 3, as eighteen states continued to face normal rainfall conditions.

India Meteorological Department has predicted above-normal rainfall for the second phase of the monsoon (August-September).

The surplus was the highest since the start of the monsoon in June. The country received 74 percent excess rainfall on August 3.

In the case of rainfall, nine states and union territories continued to witness deficient rainfall conditions, with north west parts of the country facing the worst. Chandigarh had the highest deficit at over 50 percent.

A normal is calculated using a long-period average of 30 years for a specific region.

Better monsoon has improved reservoir levels significantly. The country’s 150 reservoirs registered a 7 percent higher than normal storage as of August 1 compared with 4 percent deficit previous week.

Punjab’s reservoirs had 80 percent storage below normal.

Northern and eastern regions have been worst affected, as rainfall has been deficient in these parts. Northern states had a storage deficit of 38 percent, while eastern regions had a 12 percent deficit, with Bihar having 67 percent storage deficit.

Despite normal rainfall and reservoir levels, the impact on sowing has been limited, with acreage just 2.3 percent higher than the previous year as of July 26.

Rice sowing was flat from the previous year at 216 million hectares as of July 26 compared with 216.4 million hectare the previous year, while pulses sowing was up 14 percent. Major rice growing states like Haryana and Punjab continue to witness over 40 percent rainfall deficit.

Coarse cereals sowing is up 5 percent from the previous year, jute and cotton sowing was down 6.9 percent from the previous year.  West Bengal had 12 percent deficit as of July 30.

The government is hoping for a revival of its 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.