Govt draws up contingency plans for 315 districts amid 42% rain deficit

New Delhi: With India recording a 42% rainfall deficit till June23 in this monsoon season amid an emerging El Nino, the government has intensified contingency measures to safeguard kharif crops, identifying 315 districts at risk of low rainfall and irrigation shortages and directing states to prepare district-specific response plans.

Agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday reviewed the country's preparedness for a weak monsoon, stressing water conservation, crop diversification and scientific sowing practices to minimise the impact on farm output. The El Nino climate pattern has historically been associated with below-average rainfall and reduced production of kharif crops.

The government has set a foodgrain production target of about 176 million tonnes for the 2026 kharif season, same as previous year's seasonal output.


Despite weak rainfall so far, crops have been sown over 11.99 million hectares as of June 22, marginally higher than 11.79 million hectares a year ago. "Sowing of soybean is lagging behind," the minister said.

The agriculture ministry and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) have jointly mapped districts vulnerable to poor rainfall using scientific data on rainfall patterns, irrigation coverage and local climatic conditions.

Of the 315 districts identified, 111 have been classified as 'high priority' with irrigation coverage below 25%. Another 76 districts fall in the 'medium priority' category with irrigation coverage between 25-50%, while 128 districts are considered relatively less vulnerable because of better access to irrigation through reservoirs and other sources.

Most of these districts are spread across Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

To deal with possible rain deficits, the ICAR has prepared district-level contingency plans recommending alternative crop choices, revised sowing schedules, to reduce income losses in rain-fed regions.