MC Daily Monsoon Tracker: 17 states receive normal rainfall, kharif sowing largely unchanged

Rice sowing was flat from the previous year at 216 million hectares as of July 26 compared with 216.4 million hectares the previous year, while pulses sowing was up 14 percent.

Coarse cereals sowing is up 5 percent from the previous year, jute and cotton sowing was down 6.9 percent from the previous year.

A significant reason for low sowing levels is uneven reservoir capacity levels across the country. 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 experience at least 50 percent deficit from normal capacity storage held by reservoirs.

While nine states now face excess rainfall conditions, 10 states continue to witness rainfall deficient conditions. Chandigarh and Manipur were the most deficient regions with a deficit of over 50 percent from normal.

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

Jharkhand, Punjab and Haryana witnessed over 40 percent deficit.

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.