July to get more rain than forecast

India received more rainfall this month than forecast by the weather bureau, helping ease a dry spell that’s affected sowing of crops in the world’s second-biggest producer of rice, wheat and sugar.

Falls in July, the wettest month in the June-to-September season, will beat the June forecast of showers being 93 percent of the long-period average of 293 millimetre, a level deemed near normal, said A B Mazumdar, deputy director general of India Meteorological Department.

The monsoon has strengthened since July 8, helping narrow the rain deficit to 19 per cent so far this season from as high as 52 per cent in June. High farm output will help Prime Minister Manmohan Singh push economic growth back to a 9 per cent pace and to meet a poll promise of ensuring food security for the poor.

Rainfall “will be definitely better than the prediction,” Mazumdar said in a phone interview from Pune.

India received 353.2 millimetre of rainfall between June 1 and July 29, compared with 437.4 millimetre considered normal for the period, the weather office said today. That’s caused acreages of major crops to lag behind year-ago levels.

Farmers sowed paddy in 15.6 million hectares, compared with 21.7 million hectares a year earlier, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told Parliament on July 28. Sugarcane was planted to 4.25 million hectares, down 3 per cent from a year ago, he said.