Ministry of Agriculture defying claims : No Drought in the country

The year passed has been a good monsoon year but it had some exceptions in the southern peninsula, where the population had been grappling with drought-like situations. Lately, many news reports have been published regarding drought warnings for 225 districts in 17 States. But according to the Ministry of agriculture and farmers’ welfare, these are factually incorrect. According to the release, The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has been monitoring regularly the agricultural situation in the States. During the current monsoon season, the monsoon rains have been normal i.e. 738.8 mm against the normal of 782.2 mm as on 10.09.2017. The overall rainfall in the country is in the category of normal (-6%).

The main points highlighted from the report has given a stable situation of agriculture and rainfall in the country. The monsoon season in the country is from 1st June to 30th September. Many States particularly, NE States are receiving heavy monsoon rains. The Kharif crops coverage in almost all the States have been satisfactory and the rains during the period from 1-10 September 2017 in Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Odisha, and Jharkhand have improved moisture in the soil. This wide distribution of rainfall has brightened the prospects of Kharif production in the current season.