June, July rain deficit accounts for subsidy to farmers

There is finally some good news for the farmers witnessing poor Monsoon rain in the country. The Centre in a move to save standing Kharif crops has announced 50% diesel subsidy to farmers, which will be applicable in areas where rain deficit was more than 50% till 15^th July. The government has also raised the subsidy ceiling on seeds to 50% in order to compensate the cost of resowing.

Monsoon started off on a poor note across the country in June and by the time the month ended, the cumulative rainfall deficit in the country was standing at 43%. The situation sustained till the middle of July with the cumulative deficit remaining at 43% till 12^th July.

However, some good rain in the third week of the month helped in some recovery. In fact, it was the first time in this season that the weekly rainfall was sufficiently above normal. The rainfall during the week ending 24^th July was 20% excess. During this period, 82 mm of rain was observed in the country against the average of 68 mm. The week before this had experienced 32 mm of rain against the average of 47 mm, which was 32% deficit.

Northwest and westcentral India were the worst affected regions during this time. A look at the following table will explain the grim situation in these sub-divisions.

Sub-Divisions	Rainfall Deficit as of 14th July
Punjab	65%
Haryana & Delhi	59%
West Uttar Pradesh	75%
Uttarakhand	54%
West Rajasthan	71%
East Rajasthan	68%
East Madhya Pradesh	52%
West Madhya Pradesh	63%
Vidarbha	66%
Marathwada	61%
Madhya Maharashtra	66%
Gujarat	91%
Saurashtra & Kutch	75%

However, some good rain in few pockets of the country during the last two weeks, particularly in East and Central India has helped in pulling down the cumulative deficit to 17%. According to Skymet Meteorology Division in India, this deficit is now likely to get arrested and rise marginally in the coming days.