Rainfall is scanty in a few pockets in peninsular India

PUNE: Even as India is set to reap a bumper kharif harvest due to ample rains across the country, parts of Bihar, the Northeast and pockets in peninsular India are still waiting for good rainfall. Scanty rainfall will affect the paddy crop in Bihar and the Northeast.

“Paddy production in Bihar will decline by 15-20% while the decline in the Northeast will be less than 10%,” said B Venkateswarlu, director, Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture.

He was part of the central team that toured Bihar and the for early rabi crops,” said Venkateswarlu. There are pockets in peninsular India which are still waiting for good rainfall.