New Delhi: A late surge in the monsoon has improved this year's overall rainfall deficiency from -18 per cent to -14 per cent. However, many states are still struggling with rainfall deficiency of over -30 per cent. Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh told CNN-IBN that these extreme variations in weather will impact the production of crops.
"We will have a clear picture only in the first week of September. But both floods and drought will impact production," Singh said.
He opined that farmers must focus on better irrigation facilities as it was the only long term solution. "Some parts will suffer from drought and some other from floods. Punjab is the worst affected. Yet Punjab is the only state that has shown 95 per cent sowing that is because the farms could have water. Irrigation is the long term solution," said Singh.
He assured that the Centre was providing all assistance to farmers in areas that have received less rainfall this year. "We have already been sent the immediate measure to 565 districts. All states have State Disaster Relief Funds which they can use to meet immediate needs. A state can declare drought and use the funds. We have already told the states which have suffered more than 50 per cent deficiency in rainfall for fifteen consecutive days to provise diesel, seed and fodder subsidy even without declaring a drought. If the states cannot manage, they can write to the Center and the Center will send teams to investigate and will assist states in every possible manner," he said.
While states like Kerala have been receiving huge rainfall, many states including Haryana in the northern India have been declared 'drought-hit'.
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