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Monsoon revival improves crop situation: Govt

Monsoon rains fell over large parts of India over the past two weeks after scanty showers in the key July month, improving the condition of crops, including oilseeds and rice, Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh said on Friday.

He said cumulative rainfall between June 1 and August 14 was 24 per cent lower than normal.

Despite the revival of the monsoon, India continues to feel the impact of its worst drought in more than 15 years.

Singh said several regions in drought-hit states, including the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, southern Andhra Pradesh and central Madhya Pradesh, had received widespread rains in August.

Rice is grown in the northern states and Andhra Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh grows soybeans while Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh grow groundnuts.

"Crops like oilseeds and rice paddy have improved by this week's and last week's rains but there is still a shortfall of rains," Singh told reporters after a meeting of a group of senior ministers set up to monitor the drought.

"July rains were crucial for agriculture and in July there were hardly any rains (in the growing regions)," Singh said.

The drought has hurt India's oilseeds, coarse grains and rice crops. Several states have asked for assistance from the central government.

The monsoon arrived over the southern state of Kerala in early June and moved to the western parts of the country, but its progress has been erratic, hurting thousands of farmers who depend on rains in the absence of irrigation.

The monsoon is vital to India's economy as agriculture makes up about 25 per cent of gross domestic product and employs about 70 per cent of its more than one billion people.

Singh said the fodder and drinking water situation would improve with the recent rains and alternative crops could be sown in areas where it had rained.

The India Meteorological Department said on Friday that rainfall between June 1 and August 14 was normal to above normal in 17 out of 36 metereological sub-divisions of the country.

Eighteen areas had sub-normal rains and one division, western Rajasthan, received only scanty rains.

It said the rainfall activity over the Gangetic plains, Orissa and parts of central India was likely to continue until the middle of next week.

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