Agriculture

Drought and loss to agriculture strikes India in the face

Ever since June, there has been some amount of debate over whether the monsoon will be good this year. The met department was predicting a slight shortfall in the rains, and there was also news that another El Nino effect would be in place that would impact the amount of rains. As the months of June and July progressed, it became clear that the monsoon was late, and was not adequate. At the same time, the Government did not try to press the panic button, with the Minister of Agriculture claiming that there would be a marginal impact at best, and the Met Department predicting that things were not all that bad. The one time when the Department made a statement about the rains not being good, they were ticked off by the Government about creating a fear scenario, something that could lead to panic.
And now, we are in the situation where it is clear that the rains have failed all over the country; 31 of the 36 met zones in the country have reported lower rains that expected, in some cases, the shortfall has been much lower than the normal. Now, you are starting to hear stories from the Government that they will ensure that Indians do not go hungry, that there are adequate food stocks, and that they will take whatever measures are needed to save the remaining kharif crop, and to ensure that conditions (some amount of wetness in the soil) remains for the rabi winter crop. Towards this end, the Government mentioned something about diversion of electricity, more power for pumps, more installation of pumps.
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