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Despite lower rainfall, more area under paddy this year

For the entire country, cumulative rainfall this monsoon has been 12% below the average. (File photo)

PUNE: With the monsoon having withdrawn from most parts of India and on the way out from some, the Met office has said that rainfall this season has been 88% of the long period average (LPA) or 50-year average.The India Meteorological Department ( IMD ), in its final weekly report, the country's LPA was expected to be 87% (+ or - 4%) for 2014. India's rainfall for July and August was 90% and 91% of the LPA as against the predicted 93% and 96% (+ or - 9%).Meanwhile, central India, which includes Maharashtra, and south peninsula are the two regions with least rainfall deficit in the country. Central India has ended up with a 10% deficit, while south peninsula has 7% rainfall deficiency as compared to normal. Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab and West Uttar Pradesh received deficient rainfall by more the 50% of the LPA, the report said.For the entire country, cumulative rainfall this monsoon has been 12% below the LPA. Of the 36 meteorological subdivisions, rainfall has been surplus over one, which is south interior Karnataka, normal over 23 subdivisions and deficient over 12 subdivisions. The report said that 3% area of the country received excess rainfall, 67% normal and 30 % deficient rainfall during the monsoon.Maharashtra as a whole has ended up with a rain deficit of 14%, while central Maharashtra shows a 7% deficit, while Marathwada reels under 42% deficit this monsoon, the IMD said.As per the Met office's analysis, rainfall for the country during July and August was 90% and 91% of the LPA. As for the four regions of the country, in northwest India, rainfall this year was 79% of the LPA, while the met office had in its long range forecast predicted 85% (+ or - 8%) for this region. Similarly, as against the met office's forecast of rainfall in central India being 94% (+ or - 8%) of the LPA this year, it was actually 90% of the average.In south peninsula, rainfall has been 93% of the LPA, in agreement with met department's long range forecast. East and northeast India received rainfall which was 88% of the average as against met officials' prediction of 99% (+ or - 8%), the IMD said.The southwest monsoon, meanwhile, has withdrawn from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan, most parts of West Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and some parts of Jammu, Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh , East Uttar Pradesh, West Madhya Pradesh and north Arabian Sea. The withdrawal line of southwest monsoon continues to pass through Jammu, Una, Bareilly, Kanpur, Nowgong, Ujjain, Vadodara, Porbandar, among others.The Met office has forecast that conditions are favourable for further withdrawal of southwest monsoon from the remaining parts of northwest India and some more parts of central India during the next two to three days.Southwest monsoon may start withdrawing from parts of Maharashtra during the second week of October, said a senior IMD official. However, the monsoon normally withdraws from the state in the first week of October.