“El Niño and the current delay in the monsoon will not heavily impact overall rice sowing if farmers opt for special, traditional rice varieties such as Kala Namak, which has a distinct capacity to survive and thrive with significantly less water and fertiliser compared to standard varieties,” Padma Shri awardee and agricultural scientist Dr Ram Chet Chaudhary told Business Standard on the sidelines of Samagam 2026, an annual event of agri-tech platform Kisaansay Agtech, held in New Delhi over the weekend.
He said that apart from its drought-resistant nature, Kala Namak rice is highly nutritious and contains naturally high levels of vitamin A.
Urging farmers to grow more traditional rice varieties to combat climate change, Chaudhary said that ancient crops are uniquely suited to survive severe weather stress.
While a prolonged delay in the monsoon could potentially hamper the transplanting phase for conventional paddy varieties, many people working on the ground feel that current agricultural operations remain steady.
According to Anshuman Tiwari of the Kushinagar (Uttar Pradesh)-based Pravidhan Farmer Producer Company, a major buyer of rice, farmers are now navigating the initial dry spell using localised infrastructure. Tiwari was also present at the event.
He said that in eastern Uttar Pradesh, farmers are currently not facing any major crisis because nursery preparation has been completed using canal and groundwater irrigation.
Tiwari noted that local canal networks and groundwater resources adequately meet the requirements for both the seeding and transplanting stages. Cultivators remain optimistic that monsoon rains will arrive just as the critical transplanting phase begins.
The India Meteorological Department's (IMD's) latest data show that cumulative southwest monsoon rainfall until June 20 was almost 41 per cent below normal, with large parts of central, western and southern India yet to receive their first monsoon showers this year. The weather office, however, expects rains to revive in the next few days and make steady progress across the mainland.
The writer is a 2026 batch Business Standard-Rahul Khullar intern 
 "agriculture, rabi season, crops")