Weak rains leave a trail of wilted crops, dry plots
The India Drought Monitor, maintained by the Water and Climate Lab at IIT Gandhinagar, puts 52.5% of the country’s area in the drought category.
Farmers in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region, hit by a 15% rainfall deficit across the country, are witnessing wilted crops and dry plots. Lal Singh Thakur, a farmer from Pipla, Nagpur, faced a 37% rainfall deficit in his area and is expecting to lose his investment in soybean, as the 300-foot borewell dried up. Despite his field being too dry for animal grazing, Thakur's misfortune mirrors the stress reported in several rain-dependent farming areas.
India received 703.7mm of rain, far below the normal 827.2mm. Maharashtra is among the states with the largest drought-affected areas, at 83.5%, according to the India Drought Monitor. While well-irrigated areas such as Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh may not see significant yield declines, drought-affected parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka are expected to bear the brunt.
India's production target for the 2026-27 Kharif season is set at 176.16 million tonnes, slightly higher than the 176.04 million tonnes produced in 2025-26. However, the government remains optimistic that a lower harvest will not lead to food shortages, as India already produces a substantial surplus of several crops.
Written by urgent.news from Hindustan Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
