Monsoon 26 Short In Last Week But Crop Scenario Optimistic (12-Aug-2010)
India’s monsoon, the main source of irrigation for more than 70% of cultivated land, continues to remain jittery and delivered 26% percent below average rainfall in the last week, the weather office said. In light of good cumulative rainfall the overall crop scenario is still optimistic though there could be greater troubles in eastern India.
The nation received 46.9 millimeters of rain in the week ended August 11, compared with the 50-year average of 63.1 millimeters for the period, according to a statement released by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday. Cumulative rainfall however is much better with total rains being only 4% below the long period average (LPA).
In the week under review, rainfall was 19% below average in northwest India, including western Uttar Pradesh, and 6% below normal in central states including Madhya Pradesh, the met department said. Northwest India is the key grain belt of country while Madhya Pradesh is India’s biggest soybean growing province. The former however has extensive manual irrigation facilities and therefore is less dependent on rains. Nonetheless, manual irrigation is costly and can therefore boost food inflation if rains remain weaker.
The IMD however maintains that overall scenario was pretty good and there was no need to worry as far as crop situation is concerned. It expects fairly widespread rainfall in next few days in the main soybean, rice and cane growing regions. Farm scientists are also saying that there is no need to panic as moisture level in soil is enough to keep crops healthy for another week.
However, a cause of greater concern could be there in the eastern parts of the country. Large tracts of farm land in Gangetic West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Assam have received relatively much less rainfall so far, with shortfalls ranging around 32%, 32%, 48%, 43% and 40% respectively in these regions. This is also reflected in the fact that paddy sowing was down by about 10.43% in West Bengal - the largest rice producing state of the country, and down by around 5.19% in Bihar.
Top News Today
 Auto major, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is all set to introduce a smaller version of its multi-purpose vehicle Xylo by Diwali this year as it aims to expand its customer base in the country. The company,
 Godrej Properties, Mumbai based real estate developer launched its new residential project Godrej Alpine in Mangalore. It aims to complete 499-apartment Godrej Alpine for occupation in 36 months. Godrej
 Mahindra & Mahindra, auto major has stopped the second phase of booking for its latest sports utility vehicle XUV500. It has received over 25,000 orders in a period of 10 days from January 25 to February
|
International Stock News
 The US markets rose on Monday, sending the Dow industrials to their highest close since 2008, as Greece's government made progress on measures to secure international aid. Also, a Labor Department report
 The US markets made a mix closing on Thursday, as a drop in jobless claims fueled optimism about the economy and investors looked to the next day's employment report as the next indicator of the economic
 The US markets made a mixed closing on Tuesday, with the indices mostly slipping after US economic data failed to live up to expectation. The reports showed that American consumer confidence trailed estimates
|
|
|