India's coming rabi (winter) season is likely to be difficult for rainfed areas because of El Niño, and foodgrain production could be affected, Agriculture Secretary Atish Chandra told a two-day national conference on rabi preparedness in New Delhi on 28 September. "We are seeing that in the coming season, production is likely to be affected to a large extent," he said.

The kharif season was also very hard in rainfed areas, where several states struggled first to cover the area and then to keep crops alive. Some states may now face excess soil moisture while rain-deficient areas face long periods of stress, Chandra said, adding that even irrigated areas have suffered untimely heavy rain. Rabi crops are normally sown on about 638 lakh hectares: wheat on more than 300 lakh, pulses on 140 lakh, oilseeds on 87 lakh and coarse cereals on 55 lakh.

Chandra called for crop diversification to reduce imports of pulses, oilseeds and some fruit, sustainable agriculture judged by results on the ground rather than subsidy spending, and modern infrastructure to cut farm losses. He named digital agriculture the top priority, saying accurate production and land data and farmer IDs linked to land records are needed for planning.

Photo: Shemaroo / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Source: Economic Times Agriculture/Food