Poor monsoon rain is beginning to take a heavy toll as planting of food crops so far is worse than the drought year of 2009, and authorities in some regions have diverted water from fields to drinking water taps, compounding the misery of farmers.
Farmers in many regions are planting alternative crops, which are less remunerative but can endure water scarcity and mature quickly to make up for late sowing.
Water in 85 major reservoirs has fallen rapidly below the 10-year average at a time the tanks fill up to be able to irrigate fields after the monsoon and maintain hydropower generation.
Monsoon showers lashed parts of north India on Sunday, heralding the start of the Sawan month,usually a rainy phase in the traditional calendar, but the country needs sustained showers to make up for the 43 per cent rain deficit so far.
The weather office says monsoon will gather pace in the days ahead, which can still salvage agriculture. But the current situation raises the spectre of food inflation, which had rocketed to 20 per cent in 2009 and remained stubbornly high since then, impacting interest rates and growth.
Total crop planting in the Kharif season has halved from last year. The oilseeds crop is the worst-hit with planting completed in only 22 lakh hectares as on July 11,which is down more than 80 per cent from last year and significantly lower than 56 lakh hectares sown at the same time in 2009, when the country suffered the worst drought in nearly four decades.
Cotton planting is also lower than in 2009.Total area under rice, coarse cereals and pulses is 135 lakh hectares, lower than 153 lakh hectares sown by this time in 2009.Coarsegrainplanting is much lower while rice and pulses are slightly better than the drought year.
The situation is particularly severe in the stretch from Odisha to Maharashtra and Gujarat, which the weather office calls 'central India'. In this region, the area with rainfall closest to normal is Konkan and Goa with a monsoon deficit of 45 per cent since June 1. Rain deficit in Narendra Modi's native state of Gujarat ranges from 77 per cent in Saurashtra and Kutch to 92 per cent in the rest of the state.
"The agricultural situation in Gujarat, interior Karnataka and major parts of Maharashtra, west Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan needs to be monitored continuously and preparation may be taken up for adoption of contingency plan and arrangements may be made for availability of sufficient seeds and other inputs for agricultural operations," the weather office said.
Acreage of India's largest vegetable export, guar, could also increase as companies have been distributing free seeds to farmers. The crop, which is largely sown in the dry areas of west Rajasthan, Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, requires only two to three showers.
"Guar is a very sturdy crop and even if it rains by late July, farmers can sow the crop. However, our main focus will remain on cotton and groundnut, which account for 50 per cent of the total Kharif area in the state," said Raj Kumar, principal secretary in the Gujarat government. Farmers in the state could plant crops in only 14 lakh hectares, down from 50 lakh hectares last year. "There has been no rain and with reservoir position critical, water is only being released for drinking and not irrigation. If it rains as per the Met department forecast, then we can go for groundnut and cotton sowing till July 15," he added. Farmers in Gujarat, Maharashtra and parts of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka are also planting alternative crops.
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