Delayed monsoon triggers sharp decline in kharif sowing; reservoir levels add to concerns
India’s kharif sowing has dropped 23 per cent year-on-year due to a delayed and weak monsoon. Reservoir levels remain low, raising concerns over future crop output and rural livelihoods.
A sluggish start to India’s monsoon season is reverberating across the country’s agricultural heartlands, with a marked decline in the sowing of kharif crops and reservoir levels falling well below desired thresholds. Farmers and policymakers alike are watching weather forecasts and water tables with growing apprehension, as the delayed arrival of rains threatens to derail critical planting schedules and impact the year’s food output.Kharif planting stalls as rainfall deficit widensMinistry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare indicates that the total area under kharif crops as of late June has shrunk by 23 per cent compared to the same period last year. Just 182.72 lakh hectares have been sown, a steep fall from 236.46 lakh hectares at this time in 2025. This contraction is largely attributed to the sluggish onset and weak progress of the southwest monsoon, a seasonal weather phenomenon that typically catalyses sowing activity from June onward.Monsoon’s patchy progress and the El Nino effectIndia Meteorological Department (IMD) has reported that cumulative rainfall across the country is currently 42 per cent below normal, as of June 24. Central India is experiencing the brunt of the deficit, with rainfall 59 per cent below usual levels. Eastern and Northeastern states are also struggling, with a 41 per cent shortfall, while the southern peninsula and northwestern states are lagging by 28 per cent and 22 per cent respectively.Reservoir storage dips to worrisome levelsreservoirs are also running low. As per the Central Water Commission (CWC), the live storage in 166 major reservoirs stands at just over 48.4 billion cubic metres, amounting to only 26 per cent of their full capacity. This represents just 73 per cent of last year’s storage at the same point and marginally exceeds the 10-year average for this period. Of these reservoirs, 55 are at 80 per cent or below of normal storage, with 29 recording less than half of typical levels.Mixed picture for a few crops amid broader slumpImplications for food security and inflationPolicy response and the road aheadagriculture and water management, as weather extremes become increasingly common.