Indian Drought in Amidst rainy season.-25% short : Weekly Bulliten by Indian MET

Reuters) - India's key monsoon rains were 25 percent below normal in the week to July 6, a sharp reversal from the 10 percent above average rains in the previous week, the weather office said on Thursday, reflecting a predicted lull in the monsoon's progress.

The rainfall was weakest in the rice, cotton and oilseeds growing areas of east, west and central India.

"Weak conditions will continue even in the next week, but there could be a revival in rainfall over eastern India," a source in the weather office said.

Overall, India has forecast the monsoon will be slightly below normal.

July is the key planting month during the June-September monsoon, when rainfall distribution over major crop regions is important for sowing crops.

India aims to produce a record 245 million tonnes of grains in the crop year that started on July 1, a rise of about 3.9 percent over the previous year.

Last year, rainfall was two percent above normal in the week to July 7 after a weak start in June, but rains picked up in the remaining period of the four-month monsoon and ended as normal.

In the past week, rains over the rice, cane and cotton areas of Andhra Pradesh were 23-62 percent above normal, but rains over the soybean areas of central and western were poor.

A well distributed monsoon would boost farm production and help ease high food inflation that stood at 7.6 percent in the year to June 25.

Rainfall During The Week (For the week ending on 6^th July, 2011)

Rainfall was excess/normal in 16 deficient/scanty in 20 out of 36 meteorological sub-divisions. (Actual: 44.7 mm, Normal: 59.7 mm and Departure: -25%).

Cumulative Seasonal Rainfall (1^st June to 6^th July, 2011)

Rainfall was excess/normal in 27 and deficient/scanty in 9 out of 36 meteorological sub-divisions. (Actual: 217.6 mm, Normal: 215.1 mm and Departure: +1%).

The sub-divisionwise weekly and seasonal rainfall distribution is presented in enclosed map.

A comparative data of cumulative seasonal rainfall during the corresponding period in the last five years is given in Table-3.