Amarnath Sharma has waited weeks forrains to soak his parched rice paddies so he can start planting. He is one ofmillions of farmers across India who are hoping and praying for elusive monsoonshowers.
But their hopes are being dashed this season: India's Meteorological Departmentsays it expects the country to get at least 10 percent less rain this year thannormal during the June-to-September monsoon.
The shortfall also is expected to swell electricity demand in a power-starvednation as farmers turn to irrigation pumps to keep their fields watered.Earlier this week, three of India's regional electricity grids failed for hoursin a blackout that affected a swath of the country with about 620 millionpeople.
In a statement late Thursday, the department said rains between June and Aug. 1have been 19 percent below normal. The remaining August to September monsoonwill also be weak because of the impact of warming of the central PacificOcean, known as the El Nino, the agency said.
Several Indian states have already declared near-drought conditions and aredemanding extra federal funds or announcing large subsidies to help farmers buydiesel fuel to generate electricity to irrigate their fields.
Officials in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh — India's most populous — fearthat a drought is around the corner.
Sharma, a rice farmer in the state, said if it doesn't rain in the next fewdays he'll forgo a rice crop this year.
"At this time of the year we generally make preparations to tackle floodsbut paucity of rain has raised an apprehension about drought engulfing themajor part of the state," state Agriculture Production Commissioner AlokRanjan told The Associated Press in the state capital Lucknow on Friday.
In the western state of Gujarat, Bharat, who goes by one name, has waited along time for his thirsty fields to be quenched.
"We are tired of looking at the sky, but the rain just doesn't fall,"he said.
In the eastern state of Bihar, at least eight out of 38 districts have receivedrains 70 percent below normal, said Anil Kumar Jha, the deputy director of thestate's agriculture department. Jha said the state is spending 6.19 billionrupees ($112 million) on subsidizing diesel so that farmers could generateelectricity to draw up ground water.
Several other states — Haryana and Punjab in the north, Maharashtra in the westand the southern state of Karnataka — have all recorded poor rainfall. Thesestates grow a large amount of the country's rice, wheat, oilseeds and cereals.
A poor monsoon sends ripples across the Indian economy because about 60 percentof the population works in agriculture and over half of the farmlands arerain-fed with much of the rest irrigated from rapidly depleting undergroundaquifers. The sector contributes up to 20 percent to India's gross domesticproduct.
A poor monsoon also can worsen inflation of food prices.
"If the government doesn't help us we will die of hunger. There's no waterto drink and no food to eat," said Bharat, the farmer from western India.