Farm Minsiter Sharad Pawar has said that the monsoon situation in the country is “worrying but not serious,” reports said.

According to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), rains up to Jul 2 were 31% below average.

Pawar said that early sowing of crops had been affected in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. “Early sowing was also hit in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh,” he added.

Allaying concerns about the paddy crop, Pawar said that Rice sowing was not worrisome and would increase in eastern India.

About 9% of total kharif sowing had been completed so far.

In India, where agriculture and farming account for 15% of the $2tn economy, timely and sufficient rainfall is extremely crucial as 55% of the arable land depends on rains for water needs.

However, the minister did not seem to press the panic button as he reassured that India had ample stockpiles to meet domestic demand.

The government may enter the open market at an appropriate time to stabilize food grain prices. Stockpiles of wheat and rice were 82.3mn tonnes as of June 1, compared with emergency inventory requirements of 33mn tonnes as of July 1, reports said citing Pawar.

He added that there was no report on any draught situation in any state yet.

Adressing fears about sowing, Pawar said that Indian farmers had until August first week for crop sowing and that the country’s monsoon crop sowing was ahead of the normal level.

“Monsoon may be better from next week onwards,” Pawar said.