Farm output will drop if monsoon delays beyond Aug: Pawar
BS Reporter / Hyderabad Jul 11, 2009, 16:52 IST
The agriculture production in the country would drop if the monsoon in the country does not revive latest by August. However, it would still not be a case of concern with respect to availability of food grains, according to union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of Indian Fish Festival here, he said that the Indian meteorological department (IMD) was predicting good rains across the country in August . However, the rains during this month would be around less than normal.
"If that prediction of IMD proves to be correct, then there will be not a serious situation.''
Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, parts of Bihar and Himachal Pradesh had received less rainfall during this season but things would improve in a few days as the IMD is forecasting good rains.
The rice and wheat stocks available in the country were sufficient for 30 months and therefore there was no reason to worry. "This year the Union Government had supported 18 developing countries by sending rice and wheat stocks,” the minister added.
An alternative plan was ready along with the Kharif action plan and accordingly required seed and fertiliser stocks were made available to every state, Pawar said.
On non-availability of storage space in godowns, Pawar said they were planning to make use of the sugar industry godowns in various states as all the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Warehousing Corporation of India godowns were full beyond capacity. "Storage of food grains is a big problem now,'' he said adding that Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had written to him a couple of days ago asking the FCI to vacate godowns in the state. The Government of India was planning to hire godowns of agricultural market committees in different states to store food grains and overcome the storage crisis, he added.
When asked about spiraling prices of commodities, Pawar said it was a "local issue" which the state governments should attend to.
All said and done, the failure of monsoon, indicating drought like situation prevailing in north India, the grain/rice producing belt of Punjab, Haryana, UP, HP and Uttrakhand is a casue for concern. Of course, there is no need to to panic, because adequate stocks of wheat/rice are available in the country's godowns, but who knows the rain God may not bless the country even in August 2009. Therefore contengency plans should be kept ready by the Agriculture Ministry.
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