-Livemint.com A strong el nino will roil economies that are heavily dependent on agriculture, particularly India Singapore: In 2009, the el nino brought the worst drought in four decades to India. It razed wheat fields in Australia and damaged crops across Asia. Food prices surged. A closely watched forecast by Japan on Tuesday confirmed its return this year. A strong el nino will roil economies that are heavily dependent on agriculture, particularly...

-Al Jazeera The country's summer rains are due to start on June 1, but they may still leave some farmers disappointed. India’s monsoon rains, upon which the country relies so heavily, are expected to arrive "on time" according to the country’s Meteorological Department (IMD). The arrival of the summer monsoon is monitored very closely in India. Agriculture accounts for 15 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), and it employs some 60 percent of...

-Down to Earth Over the years, research has shown there is an association between el nino and deficient rainfall in India According to a few recent weather forecasts, the world is headed for an el nino event. The recent data shown by Australian Bureau of Meteorology shows that the tropical Pacific has continued to warm in the past week and the sea surface temperatures now exceed El Niño thresholds and trade winds...

-The Hindu Business Line Probably yes, says Chennai blogger tracking weather from 1950 Thiruvananthapuram: When does an el nino (warming of the east and equatorial Pacific) create widespread rain deficit over India during the monsoon? K Srikanth, Chennai-based blogger and weather enthusiast, has found from a study that between 1950 and 2012, five years have seen 50 per cent or more meteorological divisions suffer deficit rainfall. Carry-over nino “If one observes the pattern, these years...

A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit...