Pawar seeks to allay fears of deficient monsoon

Prospects for agriculture are encouraging this year

Seeking to allay fears of deficient monsoon this year, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today said one need not worry this year.

"My feeling is one should not worry this year," he said when asked about the intensity of the monsoon rains this year on the sidelines of an event.

Agriculture Secretary P K Basu also said monsoon rains are likely to be normal. "India is likely to have a normal monsoon this year," he said.

Earlier this month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its report 'Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments in 2011-12' said it expects agriculture sector to do better in the 2012-13 fiscal.

 

"Prospects for agriculture are encouraging. The Reserve Bank's own assessment of leading indicators suggests that the 2012 monsoon may be normal," the report had said.

Sixty per cent of the farm lands in the country depend on monsoon rains for sustaining agriculture.

Monsoon rains are important for major kharif (winter) crops like rice, pulses, maize, groundnut, soyabean, etc.

The country harvested 244.78 million tonnes of foodgrains in the 2010-11 crop year (July-June) on the back of good monsoons and favourable weather.

Similarly, on account of sufficient rains, India is expected to harvest a record 252.56 million tonnes of foodgrains in 2011-12 crop year.

However, due to drought in 2009-10 crop year, country's foodgrains output had declined to 218.11 million tonnes from 234.47 million tonnes in 2008-09.