IMD says monsoon may aid rabi, farmers say yield hit

THE IMD SAID THERE WAS ADEQUATE SOIL MOISTURE OVER NORTHERN STATES TO HELP THE RABI (WINTER) CROP AS WELL

NEWDELHI: Even as the India Meteorological Department said the high moisture content in soil would ensure better summer and winter crops this year despite a slight deficiency in the monsoon rains, farmer groups said patchy rainfall and extreme events have affected their crops.

The overall crop acreage during Kharif (summer crop) season was 2.6% higher than in 2017 mainly because of good soil moisture distribution across the country, IMD said Monday. This is despite a deficiency of over 9% in the southwest monsoon rains between June and September.

The IMD said there was adequate soil moisture over northern states to help the rabi (winter) crop as well. But farmer groups said uneven distribution of monsoon rainfall has caused widespread crop damage. The cumulative rainfall will not make up for the damage, they said.

Aam Kisan Union’s founder member Kedar Sirohi said the soya bean grain has grown only half its potential size because of lack of adequate rainfall in Madhya Pradesh’s Malwa, Nimar, Mahakoshal and Bundelkhand districts.

“The rains have not been regular. There was a good beginning and then there were long gaps. This also impacted moong and other lentils,’’ he said.

“Farmers are not happy; procurement of crops at a fair price will be a major demand during elections,” he added, referring to polls in Madhya Pradesh due this year. The Malwa-Nimar region includes Mandsaur, where five farmers were killed in police firing during the 2017 agitation by farmers seeking better prices for their produce.

There was large day-to-day variability within the season with many intense rainfall spells. One of them led to the Kerala floods in August.

Unexpected rains in mid-September hit states like Rajasthan the most. “We had a standing crop of bajra, urad and moong dal ready to be harvested. Most areas of east Rajasthan saw a huge damage to these crops due to sudden rains in September when it was time for monsoon withdrawal,’’ said Badrinarayan of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh.