Normal rain in India so far this monsoon season; rice sowing remains low despite overall crop improvement

With India receiving a normal rainfall this monsoon season so far this year, the country’s farmers have a reason to cheer. Eventually, the sowing patterns of crops during the cumulative week ended 30 August 2019 has seen notable improvement over a week ago, especially driven by the sowing of rice, says a report by Care Ratings.

However, despite the improvement, sowing of rice continues to witness negative deviation. Out of the 36 sub-divisions across India, six have received deficient rainfall, 22 have received normal rainfall, and eight have received excess rainfall, according to Kotak Institutional Equities Research. From the view of the reservoir and groundwater level, excess rainfall in some regions is a positive sign but it could also damage the production of certain crops.

 

 

-  Rainfall has contributed to the improved reservoir levels – The live storage level in the 113 reservoir levels across the country as on 5 Sept remained at 133.6 BCM, which is 12 per cent higher than the previous year, going by the Care Ratings report.

-  Many reservoirs at full capacity – All India data shows that 20 such reservoirs have current reservoir level at 100 per cent of the full reservoir level, while 24 have current levels between 91-99 per cent.

-  Western and south-west regions received excess rain – The western and south-west regions of the country have received heavy rains and have been clubbed under the category of excess rainfall, whereas only small patches in north and east India continued to witness deficient rainfall.

-  Small patches in north and east regions received deficient rainfall – Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi witnessed the most deficient rainfall, deviated by around -36 per cent from normal. There are no regions in the country which have recorded scanty rainfall during this cumulative period.

Deficient rainfall not only impacts the farmers and the agriculture sector but also impacts the entire economy in many ways. Lower production due to insufficient rainfall decreases the growth of agriculture GDP and spikes food inflation. It also increases unemployment which in turn hit the whole economy.