Carbon Copy The India Meteorological Department (IMD) this week delivered its first long-range forecast for this year’s monsoon. In terms of total rainfall observed over the season, the IMD expects this year’s monsoon to bring 96% of the Long Period Average (with a modelling error of +/-5%). The forecast, if it materialises, places monsoon performance within the “normal” range, albeit narrowly.  Despite the normal forecast, mid-way into summer 2023, India is jittery....

Hindu Businessline El Nino is one piece in the mammoth jigsaw puzzle that the Pacific Ocean and its seasonal climatic patterns typify. Being the largest single body of water, the Pacific has an outsized influence on weather and climate across the globe. During El Niño, trade winds weaken and warm water gets pushed back East of the Pacific, towards the West coast of the Americas.  Generally, El Niño occurs more frequently than...

-Financial Express Higher sowing augurs well for bountiful wheat and oilseed production The resilience of India’s agricultural sector has been a positive factor in the India growth story. During the ongoing rabi season, the average area sown for wheat is up by 25%, to 25.5 million hectares as of December 9, from a year earlier. Area under oilseeds, too, is at record levels. All of this augurs well for bumper rabi crops...

-Newsclick.in Privatisation of grain procurement and cap on procurement subsidies are among the ideas being floated. Amid a slew of worrying news on the food grain front, the Narendra Modi-led government not only appears to be strangely cool, but it is also throwing up bizarre proposals to change the whole procurement-distribution system. This could be the famous ‘using a crisis as an opportunity’ mode of thinking that has led to catastrophic effects...

-Hindustan Times Planting of key kharif or summer-sown crops, which account for half of the country’s annual food output, was 1.5% lower on August 26 compared to last year, according to farm ministry data India’s food output is likely to fall after six straight record harvests, as extreme weather dented sowing of crops, such as rice and pulses, raising concerns about inflation and tight supplies, data from the farm ministry indicates. Planting of...