-The Hindustan Times Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has directed key ministries to coordinate with states to manage the crisis arising out of the weak monsoon this year. Rains continue to be 22% deficient. India’s monsoon deficit could crimp food output and hit farm income, which supports a third of the population, hiking inflation risk. “The Prime Minister has been apprised of the situation. He has directed all the departments and ministries to coordinate...

-The Hindustan Times Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has directed key ministries to coordinate with states to manage the crisis arising out of the weak monsoon this year. Rains continue to be 22% deficient. India’s monsoon deficit could crimp food output and hit farm income, which supports a third of the population, hiking inflation risk. “The Prime Minister has been apprised of the situation. He has directed all the departments and ministries to coordinate...

-The Economic Times This year's frail monsoon has depleted Indian reservoirs to alarming levels last seen during the devastating drought of 2009, threatening even winter-sown crops and making the country vulnerable to drinking water scarcity by February as India's grossly inadequate storage capacity magnifies the impact of weak rainfall. The situation is precarious because the monsoon has delivered normal rainfall to only one-third of the country. The total deficit so far this...

-The Telegraph The poor rainfall performance is likely to impact India’s rice yield this year, a senior agrometeorology scientist said today amid growing concerns over the Rainfall deficit persisting 45 days into the monsoon season. Rainfall activity over the past week has reduced India’s land area under rain stress from 82 per cent on July 7 to 59 per cent today, but the cumulative rainfall is still 21 per cent below normal,...

-The Hindustan Times Despite a pickup in rainfall last week, the southwest monsoon remains in deficit by a significant 22%, almost certainly lowering annual production of grains, pulses and oilseeds, the three crops where sowing has been worst hit. The Met office’s estimate coincided with the release of food inflation data that showed a worrying 10.81% rise in June from a year earlier, up from a 10.74% rise in May, an...