MC Daily Monsoon Tracker: Twenty states and UTs face abnormal rainfall conditions

12 states face rainfall deficit

Twenty states and union territories in the country faced abnormal rainfall conditions, as 12 states received deficient rainfall and another eight faced excess and large excess rainfall as of July 13, according to data released by the Indian Meteorological Department.

India’s rainfall deficit stood at 2.1 percent on July 13, declining from 2.8 percent on the previous day.

A dry spell also led to Chandigarh witnessing over 50 percent rainfall deficit.

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

Data indicates that two states have received large excess and six states excess rainfall.

Area sown under major crops was high 14 percent higher as of July 5 compared with the previous year, as rainfall situation improved across the country.

Data released on July 7, showed that paddy, pulses and oilseeds experienced over 50 percent higher acreage from similar period in the previous year. Area sown under paddy and pulses was 3.68 million hectares, whereas oilseeds covered 8.03 million hectares.

Sowing under coarse cereals was down a third during this period, whereas sugarcane was up 2.5 percent.

As on July 5, the area sown for Urad has reached 0.54 million hectares, as compared to 0.37 million hectares for corresponding period last year, the consumer affairs ministry said on July 10.

Reservoir levels remained unchanged as of July 11—down 10 percent from normal.

Andhra Pradesh and Bihar continue to face over 60 percent deficit in capacity.

Data released on July 12 showed that consumer inflation increased to 5.1 percent, as food inflation galloped to 9.4 percent in June. High vegetable, pulses and cereals inflation drove food prices in the month. Economists point out that a good monsoon is necessary for food inflation to remain low. A rising inflation can also hurt consumption and consumer goods sector.

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.