Monsoon has covered the entire country till date, but remains deficient by 23 per cent. Talking to All India Radio, IMD Director General L S Rathore said, the 23 per cent deficit in rains is likely to continue until next week. Mr Rathod noted that with improvement in monsoon rain, the planting of paddy, soyabean and groundnut will pick up. He, however, pointed out that scanty rains in Karnataka and Maharashtra, might affect coarse cereals. Mr Rathod said, some parts of Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat have received scanty rains so far. He said, monsoon will now shift to Himalayas, Terai and north-east region.

Meanwhile Minister of Agriculture Sharad Pawar today said that government is worried about poor rains in Karnataka and central Maharashtra which could affect the production of coarse cereals and supply of drinking water. However he added that the rainfall situation has improved across the country in last 10 days, barring these two states.