Recent rain has little impact on national monsoon deficit
Recent rainfall in parts of India has provided minor relief but failed to significantly reduce the country's overall monsoon deficit. Many agrarian states continue to face dry conditions, impacting the sowing of key crops like paddy and maize.
Why it matters
Monsoon performance is a critical indicator for India's agricultural output, food security, and economic stability.
NEW DELHI: Good rains in the past one week over Delhi, Haryana and east Rajasthan helped offset the shortfall in these areas, but they did not reduce the overall country-wide monsoon deficit by much. In this period, India's cumulative rainfall deficit was down by only one percentage point - from 12% on Aug 2 to 11% on Aug 9 - with many agrarian states, including Bihar, Jharkhand, UP, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, continuing to witness deficient rainfall.It rained in many parts at a time when sowing of Kharif crops had ended in almost 88% of the country's total sown area. As a result, the acreage deficit could be reduced by only 1% in the past one week, with paddy, the main kharif crop, still reporting 4% less acreage compared to the corresponding period last year.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in