Monsoon reaches Goa as Cyclone Ashobaa gathers strength

Modi calls for boosting irrigation to counter low rains; sustaining 4% farm growth a challenge, says Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh

India’s southwest monsoon reached Goa on Monday and is poised to reach parts of Tamil Nadu, coastal Andhra Pradesh and also central Bay of Bengal in the next two or three days, but Cyclone Ashobaa could act as a dampener.

According to the latest update from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the cyclone was located around 650 km west of Mumbai and 470 km southwest of Veraval, Gujarat.

The Met department said the cyclone was likely to move northwestwards and intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm in the next 36 hours. A strong cyclone sometimes sucks away moisture-laden clouds.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-level meeting on Monday to review India’s irrigation systems in view of a forecast of deficient monsoon in 2015.

The Met department in its second forecast said rains in 2015 could be around 88 per cent of long period average (LPA), down from 93 per cent which it had predicted in April. LPA is the average rainfall the country had received between 1951 and 2000, estimated to be 89 cm.

Modi said a deficient monsoon should not just been seen as a challenge, but instead should be converted into an opportunity for looking at other avenues of irrigation. He pitched for boosting the creation of farm ponds as a short-term effort.  He pressed for quick adoption of a multi-pronged strategy to augment the country’s irrigation network.

The Prime Minister sought a re-look at the administrative mechanisms, financial arrangements and technology applications in the irrigation sector, to result in a shorter, more comprehensive decision-making process, which could deliver quick results for the farmers.

While calling for a thorough study of various traditional irrigation methods across the country, the PM said young researchers from universities should be involved in irrigation-policy planning.

Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, who is in Rome, said sustaining a four per cent average annual growth rate in the agriculture sector is a challenge, though it remains one of the top priorities of this government.

According to the official data of the Central Statistics Office (CSO), agriculture grew a mere 0.2 per cent in 2014-15 against a growth rate of 3.7 per cent in 2013-14.

In the first three years of the 12th Plan period (2012-13 to 2016-17), growth averaged only 1.7 per cent against a target of four per cent.

India has the 17 per cent of the world's population, but to feed the country it has only 2.4 per cent of the total geographical area.

“We are conscious of our need for sustainable agricultural development keeping the interest of future generations in mind,” said Singh while speaking at the UN body Food and Agriculture Organization.

Agriculture is a vital component of India's economy, contributing 16 per cent of India’s GDP in 2014-15 and providing employment to 55 per cent of its population.