MC Daily Monsoon Tracker: Only 10 states face rainfall deficit now

Rainfall deficit narrows further

The number of states facing rainfall deficit fell further to 10 as of July 5, as the rainfall deficit narrowed further to 1.8 percent, according to data released by the Indian Meteorological Department.

Twenty-six states now face normal or above-normal rainfall. Chandigarh is the only region in the country with over 50 percent rainfall deficit, compared with six in the previous week.

Earlier this week, the weather forecaster noted that the monsoon arrived six days early across the country.

The government on July 5 noted that the kharif sowing area for onions is set to be 27 percent higher than the previous year, while that for tomatoes is expected to be 2 percent more. The target area under kharif onion this year is 3.61 lakh hectares.



In monsoon parlance, a normal is calculated using a long-period average of 30 years for a specific region.

Data released last week showed Kharif sowing was up 33 percent as of June 28 from the previous year. Pulses sowing was up 181 percent, whereas oilseeds witnessed an over 150 percent rise in acreage. Rice acreage was largely unchanged at 2.2 million hectares.

The reservoir situation improved over the week. Reservoir levels were down 10 percent from normal as of July 4, compared with 16 percent in the previous week.

Andhra Pradesh and Bihar continue to face over 70 percent deficit in capacity.

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.