NEW DELHI: Of the total 718 districts in the country, close to 410 districts were facing drought-like conditions at the end of the southwest monsoon season. These 410 districts comprise more than 50 per cent of the country. This may severely impact India’s food stock which is under stress due to inclement weather last year.
Besides, the monsoon this year was below normal. The drought-monitoring tool, Standard Precipitation Index (SPI), of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) between June 1 and September 27 shows more than half of the country is going through drought-like conditions at the end of four months of south-west monsoon.
An analysis of the SPI shows the east and north-eastern regions, the southern peninsular region and some parts of the north-western region are under severe drought. The condition of these regions varies from ‘extremely dry’ conditions to ‘mild dry’ conditions.
Around 41 per cent of the total 718 districts are under the ‘mild dry’ category, while 9 per cent of districts are ‘moderately dry’ category, followed by 8 per cent under the ‘severely dry’ category.
Experts interpret the ‘mild dry’ condition as a drought-like condition that will reduce soil moisture drastically and further impact rabi crops.
“The mild dry condition will directly impact soil moisture which further impacts rabi crops,” said Madhvan Nair Rajeevan, former secretary, of the Ministry of Earth and Science.
He further said the interpretation of the SPI is a bit tricky to interpret in a severe drought-like condition. “It will have a severe impact on arid regions of the country, like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana while its impact will be lesser in eastern India,” said Rajeevan.
This year’s record rise in temperature during February followed by unseasonal rain had already reduced the production of rabi crops. The government has not achieved its wheat procurement target.