Allaying fears that low rainfall in June and forecast of ?below normal? monsoon season could impact agriculture production in the country, food and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Sunday said kharif sowing in most states was delayed by just a week and there was no drought-like situation anywhere.

He also said the country has adequate stocks of wheat, rice and sugar to meet any exigency.

Although, Pawar downplayed fears that the lull in monsoon rains in June has slowed down kharif sowing, the latest data released by the agriculture ministry showed that poor rains did have some impact on early progress of kharif sowing.

Till June 26, paddy acreage was down by around 700,000 hectare to 18.28 lakh hectare, sugarcane acreage was down to 41.91 lakh hectare from last year?s 43.49 lakh hectare.

Area under oilseeds dropped considerably to 6.63 lakh hectare till June 26, down from 19.23 lakh hectare sown during the same period last year. However, acreage of cotton and pulses improved marginally till June 26 as farmers rushed to plant low rainfall resistant crops to minimise the losses due to poor monsoon.

Although, sowing of major kharif crops have not been satisfactory so far, most farm experts believe adequate rains in July and August could compensate for some of the losses.

The southwest monsoon, that feeds more than half of the country?s agricultural lands have shown little signs of progress despite making an early start over the Kerala coast.

As per the India Meteorological Department, southwest monsoon has been 52% below normal across the country in June. However, the Met also said in its latest forecast that there are ample chances of revival of monsoon in July and August. For the whole 2009 season, IMD revised its forecast downward to 93% of Long Period Average, from the earlier forecast of 96% of LPA.

Meanwhile, sources told FE that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh might again call a meeting of high level officials soon to assess the impact of low rains.

Last week, agriculture secretary T Nanda Kumar held a meeting with officials of low rainfall affected states to assess the crop situation and also to prepare contingency plans. ?Shortfall in rains in June would not hit the country?s food production,? Nanda Kumar had told reporters.

Plains of Northwest India are likely to experience thundershowers from the beginning of July.