Following generally adequate rains in May and June over the main producing areas which permitted widespread plantings, rains increased in early July. They decreased during the second dekad but resumed in late July and early August in the west and south-west while they remained below normal in the centre and the east.
Cumulative rainfall is reported above normal in about half of the meteorological stations.
Plantings are completed almost everywhere. Stages of development of the crops vary in the regions but they are predominantly in the vegetative stage. Infestations of grasshoppers are reported in Diffa and Zinder departments. Insect attacks are also reported in several areas, notably on the ni b in the centre-south. Low numbers of solitary Desert Locust adults are likely to be present in some parts of the Tamesna and western A r where they are expected to breed in areas of green vegetation which developed following good rains in June-July.