NEW DELHI: Already hit by an agrarian crisis and farmer suicides, there was more bad news for the country with predictions of a "deficient" monsoon this year, raising fears of a drought."I have to say this with a heavy heart that as per our revised forecast, India will receive 88 per cent of rainfall of the Long Period Average plus or minus 4 percent," Minister for Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan told reporters today.Today, the Met Department revised its forecast from 93 per cent to 88 per cent Long Period Average (LPA), with north-west region of the country expected to be hit the most.In April, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had forecast that monsoon rains would be 93 percent of the average, which is categorised as "below normal". Now, with the revised projection of 88 per cent, the monsoon is categorised as "deficient"."We have been working to ensure that the forecast is right. But this time let's pray to God that the revised forecast does not come true," said the minister.When asked whether it could be a drought year, Vardhan said his department only predicts about the weather and refused to go into other aspects.Already the country has witnessed farmer suicides in some states. After unseasonal rains earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced relaxation of norms of compensation for loss of crops due to natural calamities.The minister said that in the last Cabinet meeting, Modi had already asked different ministries and departments to gear up for such an exigency.The North-West region which includes Delhi NCR, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan will be affected as per the forecast with it receiving around 85 per cent of rainfall of the LPA. The region had experienced less rainfall last year.The season rainfall is likely to be 90 per cent of LPA over Central India, 92 per cent of LPA over South Peninsula, and 90 per cent of LPA over North-East India all with a model error of plus or minus 8 per centThe projection of low rainfall, which may be attributed to the El-Nino phenomena, is likely to trigger fears about drought situation in some parts of the country.Agriculture, which employs about 60 per cent of the country's population, is heavily dependent on the monsoon as only 40 per cent of the cultivable area is under irrigation.Last year, the country had received 12 per cent less rains, which hit production of grains, cotton and oilseeds. Due to poor monsoon, agriculture growth stood at 0.2 per cent in the 2014-15 fiscal.In April last year, the MET dpeartment made its initial forecast of 95 per cent, which was later revised to 93 per cent in June. However, by the end of the season, India received only 88 per cent of the LPA.According to the government's estimate, total foodgrains production has declined to 251.12 million tonnes in the 2014-15 crop year (July-June) from a record production of 265.04 million tonnes in the last year.