- Government advises crop shifts; prepares for El Niño impacts.
India’s southwest monsoon has gathered pace in July, bringing a significant improvement in rainfall across several parts of the country and raising hopes for the ongoing kharif cropping season. However, despite the recent revival, sowing remains well below last year’s levels, while eastern states continue to grapple with a sharp rainfall deficit.
According to Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the country recorded more than 42 per cent surplus rainfall in July, helping reduce the overall monsoon deficit to 15.2 per cent from nearly 40 per cent at the end of June.
Rainfall Improves Across Central India
Addressing the monsoon situation on Wednesday, Chouhan said the active phase of the southwest monsoon over the past week has substantially improved rainfall across the rain-fed belt of central India, reported The Financial Express.
The region, which had reported a rainfall deficiency of around 50 per cent at the end of June, has now moved into a surplus of 4 per cent.
“Several parts of the country have received good rainfall in recent days, resulting in the reduction in the number of rainfall-deficient districts and rainfall would gain further momentum during July, leading to an acceleration in kharif sowing,” Chouhan said.
The number of rainfall-deficient districts has also fallen sharply to 178 from 262 recorded at the end of June, according to the minister.
Better Rain Expected to Aid Kharif Crops
The improvement in rainfall is expected to support sowing of major kharif crops, including paddy, pulses, oilseeds and cotton.
Central India accounts for nearly one-third of the country’s area under these major crops, making rainfall in the region critical for overall agricultural output.
However, official data released by the agriculture ministry earlier this week showed that sowing remains behind last year’s pace.
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According to PTI, the total area sown under kharif crops stood at 350.85 lakh hectares as of July 6, down 21 per cent from 442.80 lakh hectares during the corresponding period last year.
Paddy acreage declined 13 per cent to 60.24 lakh hectares from 69.30 lakh hectares a year ago. Pulses sowing dropped to 37.15 lakh hectares from 47.49 lakh hectares, while the area under Shri Anna (coarse cereals) fell to 60.12 lakh hectares from 71.86 lakh hectares.
Oilseed cultivation recorded one of the steepest declines, falling to 66.31 lakh hectares from 109.27 lakh hectares last year. Cotton sowing also slipped to 63.18 lakh hectares compared with 82 lakh hectares during the same period in 2025, PTI reported.
Eastern India Continues to Face Rainfall Deficit
Despite the overall improvement, rainfall shortages persist across eastern and north-eastern India.
The region continues to report a rainfall deficit of 39 per cent this monsoon season, raising concerns over sowing in several key agricultural states.
According to the agriculture ministry, Bihar has recorded a rainfall deficiency of 53 per cent, Uttar Pradesh 40 per cent and Jharkhand 40 per cent.
Regionally, northwest India has received 15 per cent below-normal rainfall, while south peninsular India remains 14 per cent below average.
Farmers Advised to Shift Cropping Pattern
Chouhan said the delayed arrival of the monsoon has particularly affected soybean and cotton cultivation.
To minimise risks, farmers have been advised to shift towards relatively less water-intensive crops such as maize, bajra and moong wherever feasible.
The agriculture ministry has also identified 111 districts with less than 25 per cent irrigation coverage as being particularly vulnerable to rainfall shortages.
Of these, 20 districts are in Maharashtra, while the remaining districts are spread across states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Contingency Plans Put in Place
The Centre has activated district-level contingency plans for affected regions.
According to the agriculture ministry, these plans include promoting alternative crops, encouraging short-duration crop varieties, crop diversification and better utilisation of available water resources such as ponds, reservoirs, check dams and farm ponds.
The ministry has also stepped up efforts to increase enrolment under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) to help protect farmers against potential crop losses arising from deficient rainfall.
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IMD Expects Monsoon to Advance Further
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said conditions remain favourable for the southwest monsoon to advance into the remaining parts of the north Arabian Sea, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab over the next two to three days, completing its coverage of the country.
At the same time, the weather office has maintained that July rainfall is likely to remain below normal, with precipitation expected to stay below 94 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA) due to developing El Niño conditions over the Pacific Ocean.
The four-month southwest monsoon season contributes more than 70 per cent of India’s annual rainfall, making its progress crucial for agriculture, rural incomes and food inflation.
Centre Reviews El Niño Preparedness
Amid concerns over the evolving El Niño, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) recently chaired a high-level meeting involving key ministries, including agriculture, power, rural development, economic affairs and consumer affairs.
According to an official statement, ministries have been directed to closely monitor the evolving weather situation and prepare localised strategies to minimise the impact of below-normal rainfall on agriculture and economic activity.
