The weatherman forecasted less than normal precipitation over the next two months and advised the Agriculture Ministry to keep ready a contingency plan.

According to Laxman Singh Rathore, DG of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), rainfall could be deficient by 8 and 10 percent in July and August, respectively.

He said, “June is a sowing season and received rainfall. But then we should not be complacent and there should be contingency plan in place as July and August may not have as good rainfall as June.” “There is however, some respite as the pre-monsoon showers have helped fill up reservoirs to some extent.”

On the other side, Skymet, a private weather forecasting agency has predicted ‘above normal’ rainfall (104%) in July, ‘normal’ rainfall (99%) in August and (96%) in September.

Anything less than 90% is considered as ‘deficient’ rainfall, 90-96% is below normal, 96-104% is normal, 104-110 is above normal and anything over it is excess.

The IMD has predicted 88% of normal rainfall this year, which is deficient. Many parts, especially the north-western states may witness deficient monsoon.