Despite normal rain, no cheer for farmers as profits still stressed: CRISIL

Despite normal rainfall, farm profitability remained under stress this year, says ratngs agency CRISIL.The southwest monsoon, which begins in June and ends in September, closed this season nine per cent short of the Long Period Average (LPA). This was termed 'normal' by the India Meteorological Department. This is so for a third year in a row; the earlier such period was 2010 to 2013. During those earlier years of normal rain, average agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.7 per cent annually. Growth in agriculture GDP this year will be lower than that, though well on trend, says CRISIL in a report issued on Monday."But, there are some spoilers. Rainfall distribution has been patchy and farmer income is down. The good news is that the rural non-farm side is seeing better days. Also, given healthy overall production, food inflation might stay contained," said Dharmakirti Joshi, chief economist at CRISIL. Depending on the government's procurement efficacy, the announced ...

from Markets https://ift.tt/2ynYZcp