Ranchi: Officials have warned that a 45 percent rain deficit has caused about 85 percent of the fertile land in Jharkhand to stay fallow during the peak monsoon season, bringing the state closer to a drought-like situation.
As of July 21st, only 4.15 million acres (14.71% of arable land) had been planted with Kharif crops, well below the objective of 28.27 million acres. As of the same date in 2022, official data showed that roughly 20.40 percent of the arable land was under cultivation.—Inputs from Agencies