Monsoon deficiency is expected to narrow down in the coming days with rains likely to improve in the eastern, central and Indo-Gangetic parts of the country. Director General of India Meteorological Department L S Rathore said that as of now, deficiency is 22 per cent and admitted that monsoon is not active but assured that it is not sluggish either. Talking to repoters in New Delhi, he said that the eastern coast, central India and north east are getting fairly good rains. He informed that Maharashtra and parts of peninsula are also having rain. Mr Rathore, however, said the only concern is north west India and interior peninsula . Mr. Rathore called on Food and Consumer Affairs Minister K V Thomas and briefed him about the Monsson situation.

In a reply to a question on the likely impact of deficient rains on kharif crops, Mr Rathore addmitted there is concern about coarse cereals but situation of rest crops is fine.
AIR correspondent reports that India had produced a record 252.56 million tonnes of foodgrains in 2011-12 crop year on good monsoon last year. Monsoon rains are crucial for the agriculture sector, which contributes about 15 per cent to the country's GDP, as only 40 per cent of the total cultivable area is under irrigation.