Kharif sowing improves further as rains revive, reservoir levels rise

Combined volume of water in 91 reservoirs, at 63.33 bn cubic meters, is more than last year's volume and better than the 10-year average too

Sowing of kharif crops continued to lag behind last year’s level and was, in fact, almost 7.5 per cent lower. However, the gap has narrowed over the past week as the southwest monsoon regained strength over several areas of Gujarat, Jharkhand, Odisha and Bihar.

The improvement in monsoon over several parts of Gujarat and continuing good rains in Western and Central India have pushed up water levels in major reservoirs across the country, which should augur well for coming rabi crop too.

Latest data from the Central Water Commission showed that the combined volume of water in 91 reservoirs was