A day after the India Meteorological Department lowered its monsoon forecast, the government on Wednesday swung into action to brace itself for any eventuality. It said it had a contingency plan prepared for a little over 600 districts. (The country has 676 districts.) Besides, efforts were on to stabilise prices of pulses, rice and wheat. The government will also announce the minimum support prices for kharif crops in a fortnight, which will provide direction to farmers on what to sow, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh told reporters here. Besides, work for more days than stipulated by the rural employment guarantee scheme would be offered in districts receiving less rain, officials said. Also, the government would rely more on gas-fired plants to meet the deficit in hydroelectric power.
Hence, additional gas supply is being made available to restart 14,000 Mw in June-September to meet the hydro-power shortage. Moreover, coal generation and supply is being increased, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said. To meet drinking water shortage, special trains might be run, apart from monitoring water levels in reservoirs, which can drop to alarming levels if rains fail. Authorities would be directed to calibrate the release of water from major dams, officials said.
"I am hopeful that there will not be a big loss in agriculture or economic growth," Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said at a press conference today. The monsoon forecast comes a few days after data showed farm and allied sector production contracted for the second quarter in a row in January-March.Singh said the Centre had a contingency plan for 580 districts, with efforts on to add 30 districts of the Northeast into the scheme.
"The Indian Council of Agriculture Research is distributing short-duration seeds. We have talked to the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture on updating advisories," he added. "Pulses are a burning issue ... I want to assure we will ensure adequate supplies to state governments from our own stocks. If required, we will import," Singh said.
Retail prices of pulses have risen by up to 64 per cent in the last one year. In the national capital, retail prices of tur, urad and moong have already crossed Rs 100 a kg against Rs 72-97 a year ago.
Hence, additional gas supply is being made available to restart 14,000 Mw in June-September to meet the hydro-power shortage. Moreover, coal generation and supply is being increased, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said. To meet drinking water shortage, special trains might be run, apart from monitoring water levels in reservoirs, which can drop to alarming levels if rains fail. Authorities would be directed to calibrate the release of water from major dams, officials said.
"I am hopeful that there will not be a big loss in agriculture or economic growth," Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said at a press conference today. The monsoon forecast comes a few days after data showed farm and allied sector production contracted for the second quarter in a row in January-March.Singh said the Centre had a contingency plan for 580 districts, with efforts on to add 30 districts of the Northeast into the scheme.
"The Indian Council of Agriculture Research is distributing short-duration seeds. We have talked to the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture on updating advisories," he added. "Pulses are a burning issue ... I want to assure we will ensure adequate supplies to state governments from our own stocks. If required, we will import," Singh said.
Retail prices of pulses have risen by up to 64 per cent in the last one year. In the national capital, retail prices of tur, urad and moong have already crossed Rs 100 a kg against Rs 72-97 a year ago.
Ref - http://www.business-standard.com/
