The Hindu Business Line : Rain deficit down to 9 pc

Area-weighted rainfall deficit for the country as a whole with respect to ongoing monsoon has been marked down to nine per cent as on July 30 in latest estimates made officially.

This represents a quantum positive jump compared to the 14 per cent deficit assessed on July 26, only five days ago. The accumulated deficit has been made good to the extent of five per cent in four days thanks to the generous precipitation from successive `lows' originating from the Bay of Bengal. But it could not be confirmed on Monday if India Meteorological Department's forecasts for July precipitation to be 97 per cent of the normal had proved right.

OUTLOOK GOOD

The outlook for monsoon for the near term looked good with a new `low' being forecast to take shape in the Bay of Bengal basin in the next 24 hours. And this system is predicted to chart the same course as the preceding well marked `low', triggering another wet spell east to west from Orissa to Gujarat.

According to Dr Akhilesh Gupta of the Department of Science and Technology, the satellite shots provide a telltale picture - the rain-driving Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) with its convective cloud formations stretching overland from west to the east.

Resulting cloud clusters were seen extending from over Gujarat, Central India, the Bay of Bengal and further east to Indochina. This represented an active state of monsoon right up till the Central Pacific, Dr Gupta added.

AGRO ADVISORY

Meanwhile, the weekly agro advisory issued by the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) said farmers in Central India may complete the sowing of moong, urad, niger and early maturing rice varieties within this week in vacant fields. If fields are suitable for sowing rice, the `lehi' method may be resorted to, more so if it is raining continuously.

In the Telangana region, castor, red gram and sunflower can be grown as contingent crops in the as-yet unsown areas. For fast recovery of the crops, top dressing may be carried out in recommended dose of nitrogen for the rain-fed crop. In Gujarat, conditions demand proper arrangement for draining out excess water from fields.

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