Rainfall deficit narrows to 24%, to boost Kharif sowing in July

New Delhi: Improved rainfall in July has narrowed the country's rainfall deficit and raised hopes of faster kharif sowing, agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Wednesday.

Chouhan said the overall rainfall deficit had narrowed to 24% in July after widespread showers across several parts of the country. The number of rainfall-deficient districts has also fallen to 178 from 262. India recorded a 38% rainfall deficiency in June, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The improvement is expected to accelerate sowing during July, the most critical month for planting kharif crops. However, sowing continues to trail last year's pace. Government data showed kharif crops had been sown over 35.08 million hectares so far, 20.78% lower than the 44.28 million hectares covered during the corresponding period last year.

The delayed onset of the monsoon has particularly affected soybean and cotton, prompting the government to advise farmers to shift to short-duration and less water-intensive crops such as maize, bajra and moong wherever feasible.

Chouhan said the government had been preparing for a possible El Nino event since April. District-level contingency plans were drawn up in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and shared with state governments well before the start of the season.

The government is closely monitoring the situation in 13 states-Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal and Odisha-where rainfall remains uneven.

As part of its preparedness, the Centre has maintained a national seed reserve of about 175,000 quintals to ensure uninterrupted sowing. More than 124,000 awareness programmes were conducted under the Khet Bachao Abhiyan in June, reaching over 8 million farmers with advisories on contingency cropping and water management.