{
  "id": 8142310,
  "title": "'Crops and food prices face heat': El Nino puts India on course for driest monsoon in 17 years",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/crops-and-food-prices-face-heat-el-nino-puts-india-on-course-for",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-18T01:25:19.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Live Mint",
    "slug": "live-mint",
    "url": "https://www.livemint.com/news/india/food-inflation-faces-fresh-risk-el-nino-puts-india-on-course-for-driest-monsoon-in-17-years-11789693192963.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "India faces the prospect of its driest monsoon in 17 years due to intensifying El Nino conditions, according to Bloomberg. The country's cumulative rainfall during the June-September monsoon season stands 15% below the long-term average, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Should this deficit persist, it would mark the weakest season since 2009, when rainfall was 18% below normal. The IMD had predicted a 10% shortfall in May. A potential tropical cyclone could provide some relief to eastern and northeastern India in the final week of September, though even this storm is unlikely to significantly reduce the overall national rainfall deficit, estimated at 13-16%, by consultancy Global Weather Climate Analytics' Managing Director Christian Werner. Forecasts from academics and weather experts on Lancaster University's CRUCIAL prediction platform suggest a 68% probability that the monsoon will be weak, with rainfall 10-20% below normal. The monsoon is vital to India's agricultural economy, supporting hundreds of millions of farmers who irrigate their fields with seasonal rainfall. India is a major producer of rice, sugar, and cotton, and the monsoon accounts for the majority of the nation's annual rainfall. A prolonged rainfall deficit could impact the current harvest and the next crop cycle, potentially exacerbating food-price pressures. Food inflation surged for the seventh consecutive month in August to 5.95%, its highest level this year, as rice, sugar cane, and corn plantings lag behind last year's levels. Economist Yuvika Singhal of QuantEco states that each 1 percentage-point shortfall in rainfall from normal levels typically raises food inflation by about 25 basis points. The government has already implemented measures to bolster supplies in the face of weaker rainfall and rising prices, such as allowing duty-free sugar imports and selling onions at subsidized prices in certain states to curb food costs.",
  "summary": "India is on course for its driest monsoon in 17 years, with rainfall 15% below normal so far. A strengthening El Nino is raising concerns over crop yields and food inflation, which hit 5.95% in August.",
  "key_points": [
    "India on track for driest monsoon in 17 years due to El Nino",
    "Cumulative rainfall 15% below average, IMD predicts 13-16% shortfall",
    "Food inflation at 5.95% in August, driven by lagging crop plantings"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}