Monsoon deficit shrinks to 13%: IMD
Northwest India will continue to receive heavy but scattered rainfall in the coming week
New Delhi: The deficit in monsoon rainfall shrank to 13% on Friday from 18% on Monday after heavy showers in central and south peninsula India through the week, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday. Rain-starved northwest India also saw heavy rainfall.
Northwest India will continue to receive heavy but scattered rainfall in the coming week, mainly over Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir, while the west coast will receive thunder showers in the first half of the week, IMD predicted.
More than half the country’s cultivated area depends on rainfall for irrigation, and poor rainfall in June and July caused delays in sowing of seeds, triggering fears of a poor harvest.
“Crops which were suffering due to deficient rainfall till July have greatly benefited from this rain. The contingent crops, like desi cotton, sunflower, sesame seeds are growing fine now, and sugarcane is in good condition," said N. Chattopadhyay, deputy director general of the agricultural meteorology division at the IMD in Pune. “Marathwada in particular has greatly improved as standing crops are now growing nicely, but in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi the deficiency is so high that this rainfall might not suffice."
The Met has forecast that above-normal rainfall can be expected in central, south peninsula and northwest India till 18 September, and in the northeast till 23 September.
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