Kharif sowing 44% more than last year, southwest monsoon to boost further

Sowing of kharif crops, which was 44 per cent more than last year till Friday, is expected to strengthen further in the coming weeks as the southwest monsoon is expected to become more vigorous over north India.

In June, the first month of the season, rainfall over north India was 4 per cent above normal, which was the lowest among the four major subdivisions. “Fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls very likely over western Himalayan region, northern parts of Punjab & Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, and Northeastern states during July 9 to 12,” the India Meteorological Department said on Thursday.

In June, the country received 196.2 millimeters of rainfall, which was 18 per cent above normal. Central India saw the highest rainfall, receiving 220.9 millimeters of rainfall, which was 31 per cent above normal. In comparison, North-West India received 77.9 millimeters of rainfall, which was 4 per cent above normal.