IMD Chief: Top food-producing states will see good rains now

Rainfall deficiency will reduce in the top food-producing states in the coming week, the chief of India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday.
Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said that while rainfall deficit in the eastern states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal is worrying, they are likely to receive good rainfall in the next few days, starting July 18. "July will end up well," Mohapatra said.

Apart from the south-west monsoon, atmospheric conditions also cause rainfall. While there is low pressure over central India now, July 19 is likely to see rainfall over north Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand caused by atmospheric circulation over Bengal, he said.

Monsoon has entered an active phase over India, but rains in several states, including top food producers Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, are still short of normal levels. In the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, the largest producer of wheat and sugar cane, rains till Thursday were 67% below the normal mark, or the long-term average; and 56% in western UP, according to IMD data.

The deficit was 45% in West Bengal, the top producer of paddy, while it was 49% in Jharkhand and 40% in Bihar.

According to information from the agriculture ministry, soil moisture condition is normal (75-100%) in West Bengal, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. "Crop condition is better in West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh than in 2021, and wetness condition is better in some parts of North Eastern region of the country, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal," said an official who did not want to be named.

The deficiency was 11% in northwest India and 8% in eastern and north eastern India. But the shortfall has reduced in these regions in the last one week and the situation is expected to improve.

India gets about three quarters of its annual rainfall during the June-September southwest monsoon, and its progress is a key determinant of the country's agricultural output and rural incomes.