Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today said that several parts of the country have received good rainfall in recent days, reducing the number of rainfall-deficient districts from 262 to 178. The Minister said this while chairing a high-level review meeting in New Delhi over the possible impact of El Nino. He said that after recording a 33 per cent rainfall deficit in June, the monsoon situation has shown improvement in July, with the overall deficit narrowing to 24 per cent.

The Minister said that the Centre is closely monitoring the situation in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, and Odisha. Mr Chouhan expressed confidence that rainfall will gain further momentum during July, leading to an acceleration in Kharif sowing. The Minister said that Kharif sowing has so far been completed over 350 lakh hectares, which is approximately over 91 lakh hectares lower than the corresponding period last year. He added that farmers have been advised to cultivate short-duration and low water-intensive crops such as maize, Bajra, and Moong to minimise the impact of delayed rainfall.