Drought fears: Monsoon deficit grows to 10% on poor August rains

NEW DELHI: Below-par rainfall across India for more than two weeks has pushed the monsoon deficit to 10% below normal, increasing worries of a second successive drought year in the country.

Average all-India rainfall was 5% below normal at the beginning of August but had doubled by Independence Day due to rains remaining consistently below average during the fortnight. August so far has seen 17% below-normal rain.

A shortfall of 10% or more for the entire monsoon season (June to September) is considered a drought year.

Agriculturally, however, the situation remains better than last year, when monsoon ended with a 12% deficit, because of plentiful rains in June and a few good spells since then in different parts of the country. This is reflected in the sown area figures for the kharif crop, which was estimated to be 890 lakh hectares as on August 14, some 27 lakh hectares more than the corresponding figure last year.

But concern for standing crops has been growing. Last week, the Centre approved proposals for initiating a series of farmer-friendly interventions for the kharif crop and sanctioned an additional Rs 300 crore for the purpose.

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Source:Timesofindia