With India staring at the prospect of a poor monsoon, benign neglect of the agricultural sector continues to the present regime even as rural distress is peaking, warn analysts
New Delhi: The signs were there as early as a year ago. When Narendra Modi took oath as Prime Minister, India was staring at the prospect of poor rains. The 12% deficit in monsoon sparked a drought that parched major farming states. The prices of farm produce fell, impoverishing those who grew these crops.
The weather wasn’t kind during the next harvest either, as rains in March and April destroyed swathes of winter crop. If the predictions of a below-normal monsoon come true, rural distress could hit the worst in a decade.
Adverse weather and falling prices mark out the 2014-15 crop season as the worst in recent years.
The farm ministry, in its third advance estimate released on 13 May, said that in adverse weather events, the production of foodgrain will dip by 5.3%.
Please click here to read more.