Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has held a high-level meeting with State Agriculture Ministers and officials on El Nino situation, that has so far resulted in a delay of monsoon. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Mr. Chouhan said the rainfall so far has been around 43% below normal. The Centre has assessed that 315 districts are vulnerable and 111 districts in 12 States are of primary concern due to poor irrigation facilities. “We are preparing in advance. Not waiting for a crisis,” the Minister said adding that each 315 district will have a contingency plan to face the climatic challenge.

Agriculture Ministers of States, senior officials, district collectors of vulnerable regions, experts from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and officials of the Union Agriculture Ministry and the Indian Meteorological Department attended the meeting. Citing IMD forecasts, he said rainfall is likely to remain weak even during the week ending July 2. “This could directly affect Kharif crops, particularly in rainfed regions where agriculture is heavily dependent on monsoon rains,” he said. Mr. Chouhan maintained that the government is not waiting for conditions to deteriorate but is proactively implementing scientific planning and field-level interventions to minimise the impact and safeguard farmers’ livelihoods.

“Around 315 districts have been identified as potentially affected by weak monsoon conditions. Of these, 111 districts [20 of these districts are in Maharasthra] have been categorised as high priority, where irrigation coverage is below 25%. Another 76 districts fall under the medium-priority category with irrigation coverage between 25 and 50%, while 128 districts have been classified as low priority owing to relatively better irrigation facilities through dams and other sources,” the Minister told reporters.

The districts are located across Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. “Detailed discussions were held with Agriculture Ministers and District Collectors of these states, and they were urged to expedite preparedness at the local level,” he said adding that the District Agriculture Contingency Plans, prepared by the ICAR, incorporate district-specific climatic conditions, cropping patterns, water resources and risk factors and prescribe measures such as suitable alternative crops under low rainfall conditions, crop diversification strategies, optimum use of available water resources and additional income opportunities to mitigate risks.

“Water conservation and harvesting works under MGNREGA and forthcoming rural development programmes such as VB-GRAMG should receive priority so that employment generation and enhancement of water storage capacity can go hand in hand,” he said.

He warned that severely weak monsoon could lead to fodder shortages for livestock. “To address this possibility, advance supply plans are being prepared to transport fodder from surplus regions to deficit areas. Fodder stocking, alternative fodder sources and supply chains are being planned in advance to prevent sudden disruptions for livestock owners,” he said.