Delay in monsoon no cause of worry: Centre

Press Trust of India
Posted: Sunday, Jun 21, 2009 at 2051 hrs IST
Updated: Sunday, Jun 21, 2009 at 2051 hrs IST

Font Size

Feedback

Discuss

North Pole 'could be ice-free by 2013'Chill Bites: Delhi shivers at 1.9 C

New Delhi: The Centre on Saturday said there is no cause of worry for now following the delay in progress of monsoon but asked states to come up with alternate plans to handle the situation in case of deficient rainfall this year.

The Committee of Secretaries (CoS), which on Saturday took stock of the situation arising out of delay in monsoon and its impact on kharif crops, decided that the agriculture ministry on June 25 will call a meeting of agriculture secretaries of those states which have so far not received rainfall, sources said.

The agriculture ministry has communicated to Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh to prepare a contingency plan in case the monsoon gets further delayed, sources added. “At this point of time there is no cause of worry,” a senior government official said adding that the CoS would constantly review the situation. The CoS is likely to meet after the meeting of state-level farm secretaries.

The delay in monsoon appears worrisome as the weather office on Friday said the country had received just over 50% of the normal rainfall so far this season. Of the 36 meteorological sub-divisions, 28 reported deficient or scanty rainfall while eight received excess or normal rains.

Officials of the Indian Metseorological Department (IMD) said the monsoon is likely to cover the West Coast by June 22 and the system being formed in the Bay of Bengal is likely to bring rain to the rest of the country after June 25. The CoS has directed IMD to release the forecast on a daily basis, sources said. The agriculture ministry has been asked to monitor the seed availability to ensure that farmers get sufficient seed for re-sowing, if required. The delay in monsoon damages the already sown seeds, for which farmers need re-planting.

The main focus of the government has been on the rainfed areas, which are dependent on monsoon rains. About 40% of the total 140 million hectares of cultivable area in the country is under irrigation, while the remaining is rainfed.

Post Comments

Comments: (Limit 3,000 characters)

Name		Message
Email ID
Subject

TERMS OF USE:
The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s).

I agree to the terms of use.