Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha on Friday, Union agriculture minister said north India was facing drought-like situation and deficient rains across the region have created serious problems.
The government on Friday admitted that poor rainfall in north-western India, called the grain bowl of the country, is a cause for serious concern amid fears of an imminent drought. Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha on Friday, Union agriculture minister said north India was facing drought-like situation and deficient rains across the region have created serious problems for states like Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and the national capital New Delhi.
“It is true that the whole country is worried about monsoon recession…The real and serious problem is essentially in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, western UP, part of Bihar and Himachal Pradesh,” he said.
As of Friday, the average rainfall was more than 60% below normal in Punjab (68%), Haryana (59%), Himachal Pradesh (68%), west Uttar Pradesh (78%) and Uttarakhand (67%), met department officials said.
Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh together account for more than two-thirds of the wheat and almost half of the rice produced in the country. The current rainfall deficit the northwest could be classified as a full-fledged meteorological drought but rain during the rest of the season could alter the situation.
According to Indian Meteorological Department, the monsoon was 34% deficient across India as of Friday, primarily because of the downpour along west and east coast, parts of central India and northeast in the last two weeks.
While Pawar told the House that the situation would improve, IMD director BP Yadav said “there is not much scope of improvement.” The latest report from the US agency Climate Prediction Centre of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) isn’t promising either. “Current conditions and recent trends favour the continued development of a weak-to-moderate strength El Niño into the Northern Hemisphere Fall 2009, with further strengthening possible thereafter,” the report says.
The forecast sees no improvement in the monsoon situation for the northwest in the next seven days. Moreover, the rainfall deficit that accumulates by the end of July is unlikely to be erased by rainfall during August and September. Rainfall performance in July is crucial.
US agriculture department’s Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) on Thursday warned India that the country could be heading for a drought, worse than the one in 2002, if the monsoon rains do not pick up during the sowing window period for kharif crops.
Pawar has said India has enough foodgrains to meet demand for 13 months. Listing out the contingency plant, he said in Rajya Sabha on Friday that in case farmers have to go for sowing again “we have kept additional seeds with state governments.”
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