The rain gods have finally blessed the whole country with monsoon today. However, the lifeline of our agriculture, the Monsoon has not delivered the sufficient quantities of rain yet. The Meteorological department states that there is a 23% deficit in the rains in India.

The southwest monsoon hit the coast of Kerala on the 5th of June and moved slowly towards the north east. This has had quite a significant impact on the Kharif crops; paddy, pulses and other coarse cereals.

IMD director general LS Rathore said, “Though the rainfall has improved inthe country there is still a 23% deficit in the country. The entire nation is now under the monsoon winds after it has showered heavy rains in parts of Gujrat and Rajasthan today.” He also added that with the commencement of the rains, paddy, ground nut and soyabean plantations would now improve gradually.

The low to scarce rainfall in Karnataka and Maharashtra would deinitely affect the coarse cereals incase the rains don't improve in a few days. Rathore had attended a meeting with the agricultural minister Sharad Pawar and food minister KV Thomas where they discussed about the improvements of monsoon.

Rainfall would soon shift towards Himalayas, Terai and the North-east and the deficit of 23% would not likely be negated for a week at least.

AW- Anil