Kharif crops to take a hit from rain shortfall, says govt

"It is certainly not possible to achieve 257.44 million tonnes of foodgrains production this year. It is too early to say how much would be the actual fall in production. Deficient rains will have some impact on productivity and production in kharif," Bahuguna told PTI.

The country harvested a record foodgrain production of 257.44 million tonnes in 2011-12 crop year (July-June) -- 129.94 million tonnes from kharif (summer-sown) and 127.50 million tonnes from rabi (winter-crop).

The clear picture would emerge in the next 7-10 days, he said, adding the "major worry is coarse cereals".

Karnataka is the worst affected by rain shortfalls. Other states impacted by water scarcity are Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

"Productivity will be low in Karnataka and Maharashtra and this is a major concern for us," Bahuguna said.

However, he said the situation is not as bad as 2009 when the country faced a severe drought leading to a decline of 16 million tonnes of foodgrain production.

"In 2009, at this point of time rains were deficient by 27 per cent, and today it is 22 per cent. This time, rainfall though deficient in Orissa, West Bengal and other states, the spread is not very bad. Spread should help us in good productivity," he observed.

Rice sowing so far this year is down by 10 per cent, coarse cereals by 24 per cent, pulses by 31 per cent, oilseeds by 10 per cent and cotton by 9 per cent.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh directed concerned departments and ministries to coordinate with states to meet any eventuality by monitoring the monsoon situation on a weekly basis.