Paddy sowing up; pulses, cotton, oilseeds decline

livemint.com:

Crisil Market Intelligence and Analytics. Rainfall remained 7% below normal long period average (LPA) at 611.4 mm during 1 June to 25 August. The June-September monsoon season drives a big chunk of India’s $3 trillion economy, bringing nearly 75% of the country’s annual rains, crucial for agriculture and for replenishing reservoirs and aquifers along with meeting power demand.

Over half of India’s arable land is rain-fed, and agriculture is among the biggest employment generators. Weakening rains over the past week have worsened the decline in water levels of major reservoirs, now 21% below the previous year’s levels. As of Thursday, the gap has widened from a 7% deficit at the beginning of August.

Rainfall in August is deficient by about 32%, and for the week ended Wednesday, India recorded a precipitation of 43.2 mm, 22% below the long-period average. Higher water levels are critical for the agriculture sector, with farmers relying significantly on reservoirs for irrigation. Data from the Central Water Commission (CWC) showed that the water level in 146 reservoirs is currently at 113.584 billion cubic metres (bcm), which is 64% of their overall capacity.

Although there has been a slight uptick since last week, it pales in comparison with the same period last year, when storage was at 144.569 bcm. The 10-year average for this period is 120.916 bcm. “The storage in the 146 reservoirs is presently at 79% of the same period’s storage last year and 94% of the ten-year average," the CWC reported.