Erratic rainfall distribution causes 2% decline in kharif crop acreage in India

Erratic distribution leads to 2% dip in acreage of kharif crops

NEW DELHI: Better-than-expected rainfall in many parts of the country in August has failed to reduce India's cumulative monsoon rainfall deficit. While the country's cumulative rainfall deficit (since June 1) was 13% as of July 31, it touched nearly 14% a month later due to a huge shortfall in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and some northeastern states. This deficit led to an acreage gap in the sowing of kharif (summer-sown) crops, with paddy, the major seasonal crop, reporting a decline of more than 3% compared with the corresponding period last year. Maize that contributes the most as feedstock for ethanol production in the country reported an even bigger decline of more than 4% compared with the corresponding period in 2025. This may eventually create pressure for sugarcane to be used as feedstock for ethanol production. The acreage of all kharif crops, taken together, was reportedly down nearly 2% as of Friday compared with the corresponding period last year. The acreage deficit was nearly 3% at the end of July. The acreage could not be increased due to erratic distribution of rainfall in both the key monsoon months of July and Aug. Though many parts of the country defied El Nino-linked predictions and got normal rainfall, 12 states have reported a rain deficit of more than 20% since June 1, with Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and three northeastern states - Meghalaya, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh - reporting a huge deficit of more than 40% in cumulative (June 1-Aug 29) rainfall. El Nino is a climatic condition which sees the warming of surface waters of the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. It is associated with weak monsoons and harsher summers in India. Good rains in eastern India during the remaining two days of the month, as predicted by IMD, may slightly reduce the deficit for the region, but it won't help much overall, as the Met department Saturday predicted the continuation of "subdued rainfall activity" over peninsular India during the next week.

Join conversation

Share your thoughts in the comments

Be respectful · TOI community guidelines

Peninsular India has, so far, reported a deficit of more than 23% in cumulative rainfall, leaving Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala largely dry for most of the southwest (summer) monsoon season. Predicting good rains in the east for the next two-three days, IMD said isolated "heavy to very heavy rainfall" is likely over Gangetic West Bengal on Sunday, Jharkhand on Monday and Odisha till Sept 1 due to the "influence of low-pressure area over northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining West Bengal-north Odisha coasts".