"The rural economy is under stress. The sentiment is more negative than what we expected," said Rajesh Jejurikar, executive director, farm equipment and automotive sectors at Mahindra & Mahindra said at a press briefing after December quarter results. He cited weak government spending, uneven rainfall distribution, low reservoir levels and weak mandi arrivals of kharif crop as the key reasons. Negative farm sentiments are also seen in the slow progress of rabi sowing, he noted in his presentation.