Seventy-six per cent of the districts in the country received normal to excess rainfall on an average over the monsoon period till date.

Till the week ended August 12, five meteorological subdivisions in the country, Gangetic West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, Orissa and east MP remained under deficient rainfall. But till the week ended August 19, Gangetic West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh attained the level of normal rainfall on an average. The subdivision Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura had an average rainfall of -22 per cent while Orissa got an average rainfall of -33 per cent. The eastern MP had an average rainfall of -32 per cent.

While subdivision Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura is likely to attain the level of normal rainfall with an average increase of only one per cent, the concern remains over Orissa and east MP where the level of deficiency is 12 to 13 per cent, below the normal level on an average.

Caution: Experts said that if the rainfall situation did not improve over Orissa and east MP in the weeks ahead, this may lead to a drought like conditions in the region. Coastal Orissa, of course enjoyed bountiful rainfall but the western parts of the state experienced deficient rainfall. The Bolangir and Kalahandi districts which lie in the western part of the state had earlier experienced droughts in more than one occasion.

In the week ended August 19, Orissa had only 45 mm of rainfall which was 46 per cent below the normal. East MP had 56 mm of rainfall which was 37 per cent below the normal level.

Rainfall forecast: Increased rainfall activity is likely over western Himalayas, Bihar plains, sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim and the southern peninsula. Rainfall may decrease over the northwestern and north eastern parts of the country.

Rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at many places in Himachal Pradesh, hills of west UP, east UP, Bihar plains, sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, west MP, coastal and south interior Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Rainfall is also expected over few places in Haryana, east Rajasthan, plains of West UP, Bihar plateau, Gangetic West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Orissa, east MP, Vidarbha, Konkan and Goa, south coatal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema.

Isolated heavy rains are also likely to occur in Himachal Pradesh, hills of west UP, Bihar plains, sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, coastal Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep and Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.

Water reservoir situation: The total live storage recorded in 63 major reservoirs in the country till August 14 is lower than the previous year's position on the same date by 11.77 thousand million cubic metre (TM Cum) and is also lower than the average of last 10 year's storage by 11.25 TM Cum. The total live storage till August 14 is 58.95 TM Cum or 47 per cent of the full reservoir level (FRL). It is nearly 47 per cent of the designed utilisable storage, 83 per cent of the year's storage and 84 per cent of the average of the last 10 years.

Crop situation - Rice: Transplanting or sowing of rice is in progress in the southern states, Orissa, West Bengal, northeastern states, eastern UP and parts of Bihar. The area coverage under rice in Punjab and Haryana is more than the normal coverage. However, the area coverage under rice in Orissa and MP is lower due to deficient rainfall. The total area coverage under rice in the country is 256.5 lakh hectare till date.

Coarse cereals: The area coverage under kharif coarse cereals so far is 171.2 lakh hectare as against 172.5 lakh hectare during the corresponding period in the previous year. There is normal area coverage for bajra, lower area coverage for jowar and higher for maize. The rainfall for coarse cereal crop has been adequate even in deficient area.

Pulses: The area coverage under kharif pulses so far is 84.9 lakh hectare as against 87.8 lakh hectare in the corresponding period in the previous year. This decline in coverage is due to less area coverage in Rajasthan, MP, Orissa and Gujarat. It has been observed that the research by Orissa Agriculture University with regard to area specific varieties of pulses was not up to the mark. Even the varieties grown in neighbouring states are not good. ICAR has, therefore, decided to initiate research in developing location specific seeds with collaboration with the Union agriculture ministry. Moderate incidence of spodoptera is observed on gram crop in AP.

Oil seeds: The area coverage under kharif oilseeds so far is 144.9 lakh hectare as against 131.9 lakh hectare in the corresponding period in the last year. The higher coverage is due to higher area coverage for kharif groundnut in AP and Karnataka and for soyabean in MP and Maharashtra.

However, pests like girdle beetle, semi-looper, whitefly and jassid has been observed on soyabean crops at trace level in MP.

Cotton: The area coverage under cotton so far is 81.7 lakh hectare as compared to 76.3 lakh hectare in the same period last year, but the area coverage under cotton in Punjab has declined by about 1.3 lakh hectare over the previous year. Aphids pests are observed on high levels in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

Jute & Mesta: Area coverage under jute is 7.5 lakh hectare and that of mesta is 1.5 lakh hectare. Inter-culture operations are in progress in jute.

Sugarcane: The area coverage under sugarcane is 42.4 lakh hectare. Planting of adsali crop is in progress in southern states. Incidence of pests has been observed on cane crops at low level, but the presence of natural enemies are on the higher side.