Sanjeeb Mukherjee

The onset of rains marks the start of the monsoon's four-month-long journey over the Indian mainland that ends in September

Move might push up chicken and egg prices, impacting consumer wallets

Experts say the spatial distribution of rainfall and longer monsoon breaks could have a greater impact on farmers and rural livelihoods than the overall seasonal rainfall deficit

The Centre said Adani Agri Logistics and Leap India won the majority of FCI silo projects as the lowest bidders, rejecting allegations of unfair allocation

ISMA and NFCSF have proposed a ₹87.94-crore Centre of Excellence at ICAR-SBI, Coimbatore, to accelerate development of climate-resilient and disease-resistant sugarcane varieties

The move is projected to save the exchequer more than ₹10,500 crore annually in subsidies, based on conservative estimates and assuming an average imported urea price of $345 per tonne

Centre forms crop weather watch and crisis management groups, circulates contingency plan to states as IMD forecasts below-normal monsoon and rainfall risks

India currently has around 19.98 million tonnes of fertilisers in stock, which means it has almost 52 per cent of the total reassessed requirement in stock as of today

The Centre has exempted cotton imports from customs duty and AIDC till October 31, aiming to improve domestic availability and lower raw material costs for textile manufacturers

Farmer organisations and political leaders have welcomed the Centre's decision to withdraw proposed amendments to the Sugarcane Control Order, saying it would protect growers and small processors

Centre will begin a month-long 'Save the Fields' campaign from June 1, offering crop-specific advisories and climate-resilient farming guidance as IMD lowers its monsoon forecast

The amendments were floated last month and were open for public comments till May 20

Chouhan asks states to be 'prepared'; Centre prepares war chest of extra seeds to meet any eventuality

Consumers bought around 5.05 million tonnes of urea between March 1 and May 25, 2026, as against 4.60 million tonnes during the same period last year

A look at the challenges and benefits

The ministry is in the process of identifying districts for alternative crops and ensuring seed availability in the event of an El Nino impact, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said

The Union Cabinet has approved the continuation of the SARTHAK-PDS scheme till March 2031 to strengthen foodgrain distribution and modernise the public distribution system

Kharif 2026 conference today amid El Nino shadow on monsoon

The Centre has flagged rising diversion of discounted retail fuel by industrial users even as public-sector oil firms absorb heavy losses to shield consumers

Krishna Kant Pathak, joint secretary in the Department of Fertilisers said that to solve the problem, India should now start looking at solutions