PATCHY RAINS IMPACT KHARIF SOWING AND RESERVOIR LEVELS

The southwest monsoon is set to enter the last of its fourmonth journey over India in the next few days. The rains, which started on a brisk note in June, lost some of its steam midway. After a prolonged break in late June, the monsoon has once again entered a weak phase in August. Erratic rains have impacted sowing of kharif crops and unless the monsoon revives quickly, it could have an impact on the final yields, particularly of the crops that were sown late. Till Friday, data shows that kharif crops have been sown in 106.40 million hectares of land, which is 1.75 per cent less than the area covered during the corresponding period last year. The monsoon was around 10 per cent less than normal till Friday and almost all regions of the country, except southern India, have cumulatively received less than-normal rains this year. The biggest impact of the patchy rains would be on the water levels in 130-odd reservoirs. Data shows that water levels in all of them have dropped below last year's level, except those in southern India. This could have serious repercussions going forward, particularly in the coming rabi sowing season. It could also hurt the irrigation and power generation potential of several of them.