Ranchi, Jul 7 (PTI) The overall monsoon rain deficit in Jharkhand came down to 38 per cent on Friday with the state receiving 157.6 mm rainfall against a normal of 255.3 mm from June 1 to July 7, the weatherman said.

When monsoon hit Jharkhand on June 19, the state's overall rain deficit was 87 per cent, an official of the met office here said.

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However, the deficit remained over 50 per cent in seven districts of the state. Chatra and Dhanbad recorded the highest 73 per cent shortfall, Saraikela-Kharswan 65, Jamtara 63, Giridih 59, Latehar 58 and East Singhbhum 52 per cent.

The in-charge of Ranchi meteorological center, Abhishek Anand told PTI, “Overall monsoon has been good in Jharkhand till now. The rainfall deficit may reduce further as the state is likely to receive light to moderate rain till July 13. There is also possibility of heavy rainfall in parts of the state on July 10 and July 11.”

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The state received good rainfall in the past 24 hours. It is still on due to a cyclonic circulation, which lies over Jharkhand and its neighbourhood, he said.

Bishunpur in Gumla district received the highest 50.8 mm rainfall in the past 24 hours, which was followed by Pathargama in Godda district, which recorded 44.2mm of rainfall.

“The current situation is ideal for preparing farm fields and sowing kharif crops. Jharkhand might receive good rainfall in July,” Anand added.

State agriculture department has set the land targeted for sowing kharif crops at 28.27 lakh hectares, which includes 18 lakh hectares for paddy, 3.12 lakh hectares for maize, 6.12 lakh hectares for pulses, 60,000 hectares for oil seeds and 42,000 hectares for coarse cereals.

The overall sowing coverage for kharif crop n Jharkhand was 1.56 per cent till July 6 as per the agriculture department data.

The sowing coverage for paddy was at 1.72 per cent, maize 2.51 per cent, oilseeds 3.43 per cent, pulses .32 per cent and coarse cereals coverage 3.29 per cent till Thursday, it said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)