India’s kharif sowing area stood at 18.27 million hectares as of June 25 — a sharp drop from the same period last year, according to government data. The National Drought Monitor, maintained by IIT Gandhinagar, reported that 41.2 percent of the country’s total area was under drought or near-drought conditions as of July 1, up from 37.1 percent the week before and just 19.6 percent a month earlier.
Western India, including large parts of Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Karnataka, has been hit hardest, with 71 percent of the region’s area currently in drought. The Union Ministry of Agriculture has flagged more than 300 districts nationwide as vulnerable to rainfall shortfalls this season, with over 100 marked as high-priority due to thin irrigation cover.
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