Rains this year were good, the distribution even better

For the second successive year, agriculture is expected to give a good account of itself.

To the government, at sea in tackling inflation, this may be just what the doctor ordered.

Indeed, if the source of inflation is mainly due to supply-side bottlenecks, the comfortable scenario that is developing in regard to rice, oilseeds and sugarcane may help douse the inflationary fires.

In tandem with monetary policy stance, designed to attack the problem stemming from demand pressures, the monsoon may be the harbinger of good tidings on the price front in the near future.

While the quantum of rainfall this year has been very satisfactory, it was even more so in terms of spatial and temporal spread.     

Of the four homogenous regions the country is divided into, only one — the East & Northeast — experienced a deficiency in rains during the four months ended September.

In relation to the normal, this region reported a shortfall of 14%, although in terms of the norms adopted by the India Meteorological Department, this region is categorised as normal.
In the Northwest, rainfall was 106% of the long-period average. In Central India, it was 110% and in the Southern Peninsula, the actual was in conformity with the normal.

The area-weighted rainfall for the country as a whole was 899.8 mm as against the normal of 886.9 mm, resulting in a surplus of 1%.