The southwest monsoon, which has been relatively quiet during the week that ended on August 29, isn't expected to show a big improvement in the next fortnight, with rainfall activity likely to be below normal from the second week of September. In its latest weather update, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that there was possibility of development of weak El Niño conditions in the last part of the four-month monsoon season, which began from June. Overall, the monsoon till August 30 has been 6 per cent less than normal, with several districts of north interior Karnataka, Rayalaseema, Bihar, Jharkhand, Saurashtra and Kutch staring at a shortfall. The rainfall, according to agriculture ministry officials, has been well-distributed, though overall quantum might have been low in some regions. This they said won’t have any impact on the overall production of kharif crops in 2018, which is poised for another record. On Tuesday, India said its overall foodgrains production in 2017-18 (July to June) was at an all-time high of 284.83 million tonnes, almost 2 per cent more than the last estimate that came in June, and 9.72 million tonnes more than 2016-17. The rise, however, hasn’t been beneficial for the growers because price of several commodities particularly pulses slumped due to bumper harvest.
