With the El Nino phenomenon not in play this year, heavy rains in India have created the right conditions for crop planting in the key agricultural states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Officials say the good rainfall in north India has boosted soil moisture that is needed for the new crop, reports the Economic Times.
A USDA Foreign Agriculture Service GAIN report notes that the Indian Meteorological Department’s second forecast for the Southwest Monsoon predicts a normal monsoon for 2017 and suggests that June to September rainfall will be 98 percent of the Long Period Average or LPA.
