No drought-like situation in country: Pawar

MUMBAI: The government on Sunday said there is no drought-like situation in the country even as the monsoon is delayed by about 12 days.

The government has announced that the south-west monsoon is likely to be below normal this season. This has raised concerns about its impact on agriculture and the economy.

"... there is no drought-like situation in the country. The monsoon is delayed by about 12 days in June," Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar told reporters.

He said that the programme of sowing seeds, which was carried out with the help of state governments, is delayed by just a week. "This not a cause for worry," he said.

About 60% of the total cultivable area of 140 million hectares is rain-fed, but the monsoon stopped in its tracks over the Konkan region of Maharashtra on June 7, although it arrived earlier than usual on May 23.