Deficient distribution

Lower rainfall in some regions will affect rice output

About 8 per cent excess rainfall during the first half of the current monsoon season, as has been the case this year, should normally be viewed as a reassuring factor for crop prospects and economic outlook. However, this is not precisely so this time because the rainfall, despite being copious, has been quite patchy in terms of both time and space. The major rice-growing tracts in the east and northeast, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, have remained highly rain-deficient. The lag in paddy sowing, estimated at over 13 per cent till now, is hard to make