The government today said that situation due to some delay in monsoon is not worrisome and rainfall will be better from next week onwards. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, however, admitted that the deficient rainfall during last month, has affected the sowing of coarse cereals but there is no cause for worry for the paddy crop. Talking to media persons in New Delhi, Mr Pawar said that according to the Met Department, monsoon will pick up during the month of July and August, which will have 70 per cent of rains of overall 96 per cent rainfall, which has been predicted by it. He said that the monsoon rains have been 31 per cent below average up to the 2nd of this month. Mr Pawar said, early sowing has been affected in certain states including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and some parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, due to delay in monsoon.
Asked whether rice production will decline this year, he said, the sown area is more than normal. It is quiet possible that production will be good in major rice producing states like Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. He said, till the 29th of last month of the current Kharif season, rice was sown in 30.72 lakh hectare, coarse cereals in 10.42 lakh hectare, oilseeds in 10.77 lakh hectare and pulses in 3.99 lakh hectare.

The Minister said, government is ready with contingency plans to deal with the problem of delayed monsoon. He said that his Ministry is keeping an eye on the development of South-West monsoon. Mr. Pawar said, states have been provided good quantity and quality of seeds to distribute them to the farmers as it is also an opportunity to sow alternative crops like pulses and oilseeds.
The Agriculture Minister asserted that there is enough food stock in the country. He said, 501 lakh metric tons of wheat and 321.48 lakh metric tons of rice are available. The Centre is ready to supply as much quantity to states if any adverse situation arises. He said, last year was one of the best years as far as food grains production is concerned.