August 14, 2009
India government forms panel of ministers to monitor drought
India's federal government has formed a panel of ministers to assess and monitor drought conditions in the country, a farm ministry statement said Thursday (August 13).
A panel of nine ministers and planning commission deputy chairman will decide on policy issues and approve new programs for managing droughts due to weak rains, the statement said.
India's annual monsoon rains are crucial for summer-sown crops such as rice, sugar cane, pulses and oilseeds, as 60 percent of the country's farmlands are rain-fed. The monsoon rains, which started May 23 this year, have been 29 percent below the 50-year average until Aug. 11.
The area under the summer-sown rice crop is lower by around 20 percent at 22.8 million hectares from 28.6 million hectares a year earlier. An analyst said the total area under summer-sown crops for the year to March 2010 could fall by as much as 6 percent on year.
