Sowing of rice is lagging slightly due to low rainfall in West Bengal. Coarse cereals, pulses and oilseeds sowing is still 3-14 percent higher year-on-year.
As uneven distribution of rains continues, the southern and central regions have cumulatively seen excess rainfall, while rains in the northwest and eastern states are deficient
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As monsoon continues to progress in the last week of July, overall rainfall has reached above the normal level. However, spatial distribution of rains is still uneven causing floods in few regions.
On a cumulative basis, rainfall was 2.7 percent above the long period average (LPA) as of 28 July, shows an analysis of Barclays based on Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) data. Continuous excess rains in the western and southern regions have pushed rainfall at the national average above its LPA. This compares with 1.2 percent below LPA in the previous week.
However, as uneven distribution of rains continues, the southern and central regions have cumulatively seen excess rainfall, while rains in the northwest and eastern states are deficient. “This gap also widened over the past week, with an increase in the number of subdivisions seeing excess rainfall,” says Shreya Sodhani, regional economist, Barclays.