\n<\/p>\n
By Mayank Bhardwaj<\/p>\n
NEW DELHI, June 23 (Reuters) – India has drawn up contingency plans for more than 300 districts which are vulnerable to a \u200cweak monsoon as it steps up preparations for the summer-sown season to \u200cminimise the impact on crops, its farm minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The monsoon has \u200bso far brought rains about 43% below average, and the weather office has forecast weak rains through the week ending July 2, Chouhan told reporters after chairing a meeting with state farm ministers, officials and scientists.<\/p>\n
The India Meteorological Department defines average, or \u200cnormal, rainfall as between 96% \u2060and 104% of a 50-year average of 87 cm (35 inches) for the June-September monsoon season. The state-run weather office last month \u2060forecast an El Ni\u00f1o-weakened monsoon in 2026 that would mean the lowest rainfall in 11 years.<\/p>\n
The monsoon delivers about 70% of the annual rains in the world’s most populous \u200bnation \u200bof 1.4 billion people and is critical \u200bfor replenishing water sources in India, \u200cwhere nearly half of farmland lacks irrigation and about half the population relies on farming for its livelihood.<\/p>\n
Although poor monsoon rains may hit farm incomes, India has ample stocks of staples such as rice and wheat.<\/p>\n
Millions of farmers begin planting crops such as rice, corn, cotton, soybeans and sugarcane during the rainy months of \u200cJune and July, and a delayed or \u200bpatchy monsoon can cut crop yields, dragging down \u200brural incomes.<\/p>\n
The government has classified 111 \u200bof the 315 districts as high priority because less than \u200ca quarter of their farmland is irrigated, \u200bwhile another 76 \u200bhave been designated medium priority, the minister said.<\/p>\n
States have been advised to encourage farmers in rain-fed areas to shift to short-duration and less water-intensive crops \u200bsuch as pulses, millets \u200cand oilseeds.<\/p>\n
The government has also asked states to repair ponds, check dams \u200band other water-harvesting structures and prioritise water conservation works, he said.<\/p>\n
(Reporting \u200bby Mayank Bhardwaj; Editing by Alexander Smith)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n