Monsoon covers entire country, still 23% deficient

New Delhi: Monsoon, the life-line of Indian agriculture, today covered the entire country but the rains are still deficient by 23 percent, a top official of India Meteorological Department said. The south-west monsoon had hit Kerala on 5 June, but made slow progress affecting sowing of major Kharif crops such as paddy, pulses and coarse cereals. [caption id=“attachment_374419” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] “Rainfall situation has improved but it is still minus 23 percent. Monsoon is covering entire country today with parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan receiving heavy rains,” IMD Director General L S Rathore told reporters here. With improvement in monsoon rains, Rathore noted that the planting of paddy, soyabean and groundnut would pick up. He, however, pointed out that scanty rains in Karnataka and Maharashtra might affect coarse cereals. Rathore was speaking to media after attending a meeting with Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Food Minister KV Thomas to discuss the progress of monsoon. “Rains will now shift to Himalayas, Terai and north east region. The 23 percent deficit in rains is likely to continue until next week,” Rathore said. So far, he said that some parts of Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat and central Madhya Pradesh have received scanty rains. India had produced a record 252.56 million tonnes of  foodgrains in 2011-12 crop year (July-June) on good moonsoon last year. Monsoon rains are crucial for agriculture sector, which contributes about 15 percent to the country’s GDP, as only 40 percent of the total cultivable area is under irrigation. PTI