India’s rainfall surplus widened to 7 percent to its highest since start of the monsoon season but a fourth of the states remain deficient, reflecting the uneven spread of the rains.

Rainfall has remained above average for over a fortnight, with central and southern India getting higher rainfall than northwest and eastern parts of the country, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) data shows.

Rains have been normal in 17 of the 36 states and union territories. Nine have received “excessive” rain, while one has “large excess”.

IMD has predicted above normal rain for August and September.

Northwest parts of the country are the worst hit. Chandigarh’s deficit is at a high 52 percent, while Punjab, a major grain producer, is still 42 percent short of normal rain. Nine states continue to be deficient.

A normal is calculated using a long-period average of 30 years for a specific region.

Sowing levels slightly improved at 2.9 percent higher from 2023 as on August 2, compared with 2.3 percent in the previous week, as rainfall improved.

The pickup in sowing can be attributed to a rise in paddy acreage to 5.3 percent as of August 2. Area under pulses was 10.9 percent higher compared with the previous week.

Sowing remains subdued as rainfall distribution has been uneven

Water levels for reservoir have improved significantly. The country’s 150 reservoirs were at a 7 percent higher than normal storage as of August 1 compared with a 4 percent deficit the previous week.

Punjab’s reservoirs are 80 percent below normal capacity.

Northern and eastern regions have been worst affected, as rainfall has been deficient in these parts. Northern states had a storage deficit of 38 percent and eastern regions 12 percent, with Bihar's capacity 67 percent below normal.

The government is hoping for a revival of agricultural sector, which recorded 1.4 percent growth in FY24 compared to 4.7 percent in the previous year and lower than the 3.7 percent long-term average.