India is drawing up plans to prepare for weaker-than-usual monsoon rains and the likely impact on crops in the world’s most populous nation.

The monsoon season has so far brought rains about 43 percent below average, and India’s Meteorological Department has forecast continued weak precipitation through the week ending July 2, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Tuesday.

The monsoon delivers about 70 percent of annual rains in India and is critical for replenishing water sources in the nation of at least 1.4 billion people, where nearly half of farmland lacks irrigation and about half the population relies on farming for its livelihood.

Rains typically arrive in Kerala, southwest India, on June 1, and sweep northwards. They are critical to the country’s economic health, enabling farmers to plant cotton, soybeans, sugar cane, rice and corn.

This year, they arrived three days late in Kerala, causing concern about the impact on India’s $4 trillion economy. Climate change is shifting weather patterns and raising average temperatures, and the El Niño weather phenomenon this year has brought warnings of lower rainfall.

There was significant relief for Mumbai on Tuesday when the first downpours finally swept in after weeks of blazing heat, delighting many of the 22 million inhabitants of Mumbai’s metropolitan area, even though some suburbs only had a light downpour. Authorities in Mumbai imposed restrictions on water usage last week.

Chouhan said water conservation must be accorded the highest priority: “Every drop of water is precious and planning is being carried out with that objective.” This includes immediate repair and strengthening of reservoirs, ponds, streams and dams.

Concerns over crops, food prices and economic growth were heightened last month when the Meteorological Department warned that an El Niño-weakened monsoon in 2026 could deliver the driest season the country has seen in 11 years.

Source: www.aljazeera.com