Rainfall deficit narrows to 3 % from 5% in last week: Morgan Stanley

About 68.2% of the cropped area received normal to above-normal rainfall, says Morgan Stanley

As rainfall improved this week, the deficit narrowed to 3 per cent in this week compared to 5 per cent in the previous, according to a report.

Rainfall, which was above normal for most of this week, has narrowed the deficit to 3 per cent from 5 per cent last week, according to Morgan Stanley's report on 'India Economics: Rainfall Deficit Narrowed, Sowing Continued to Contract'.

It also said the cropped area affected by deficient rainfall decreased to 31.8 per cent this week from 37.8 per cent last week.

About 68.2 per cent of the cropped area received normal to above-normal rainfall, compared to 62.2 per cent last week, it added.

With regard to regional distribution, on an area-weighted basis, total rainfall in all four regions remained in the normal rainfall range.

The report said, 31 of the 36 subdivisions have received cumulative rainfall in the normal to excess range, while five subdivisions received deficient rains.

By state, deficient rainfall (between 20 per cent and 59 per cent) was recorded in West Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, East Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and states, with the exception of Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, have net irrigated area below 50 per cent, it said.

The rise in rainfall resulted in growth in crop cultivation to 97.1 per cent from 95.8 per cent in the previous week, which is similar to that of the corresponding period of last year.

With stronger rains predicted this week, sowing of coarse cereals and oilseeds registered an improvement after three weeks, the report said.

Cotton sowing continued to be strong, reflecting the likely shift away from rain-fed crops like pulses and oilseeds toward cotton sowing, which had begun a few weeks back, it said.

Further, the report added that water storage levels of the 91 major reservoirs has increased to 55 per cent this week from 51 per cent of their capacity in the previous week.