Agri commodities recover from June dip on reports of rain deficiency

Farmers switch to sowing high-yielding, short-duration seeds to minimise impact of rainfall deviation

After falling initially on normal monsoon forecast, prices of agri commodities bounced back in July after the Indian Meteorological Department (MD) reported nearly 17 per cent of rainfall deficiency so far this season.

Barring maize, which faces acute shortage due to lower output last year, prices of all other kharif crops had declined by up to 8 per cent in June. In July, however, there was significant recovery following reports of massive crop damage in major growing states such as Maharashtra, Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and part of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

This year, a three-week delay in