Rainfall

The resilience of Indian agriculture to weather shocks has strengthened, but mitigating risks requires careful policy response

The government on Friday said wheat production loss due to recent inclement weather is likely to be in the range of 1-2 million tonnes but overall production will reach a record 112.2 million tonne in the current year on higher acreage and yield. The government's wheat procurement at minimum support price (MSP) is underway and about 7 lakh tonnes have been purchased so far, higher than 2 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period. The Centre also asked roller flour millers to directly procure from farmers to meet their requirements instead of seeking stock from state-owned FCI under Open Market Sale Scheme. The government also ruled out the industry's demand to lift the ban on the export of wheat products considering the bumper output. Releasing a private wheat crop estimate at an event organised by the Roller Flour Millers' Federation of India, Subodh Kumar Singh, Additional Secretary in the Food Ministry said there was a difference in wheat production projected by the government and ...

The minimum temperature in the national capital on Thursday settled at 17.2 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season's average, according to the India Meteorological Department. The relative humidity at 8.30 am was 57 per cent. Generally cloudy skies and light rain is expected during the day. The maximum temperature is likely to hover around 33 degrees Celsius. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) at 9 am stood at 148 which is in the moderate category. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe".

Flight services were hit on Tuesday evening due to a heavy downpour and bad weather in Devanahalli on the city outskirts where the Kempegowda International Airport is located, airport authorities said. Eight domestic flights were diverted to Chennai while six departures were delayed, the airport officials told PTI. "Strong crosswinds and heavy rains with thunder and lightning impacted flight operations from 4.05 PM to 4.51 PM. Eight arriving domestic flights were diverted to Chennai and six departure flights were delayed, an airport official said. The official added that the normal operations have resumed. "Flights diverted to Chennai are being refueled and will return to Bengaluru shortly," she said. According to the Met department, the KIA in Devanahalli received 45.2 mm rainfall on Tuesday evening. Due to the heavy downpour, traffic was thrown out of gear and normal life was paralysed in Devanahalli. On the other hand, there was no rainfall in the central region of the city.

Heavy rain coupled with thunderstorms lashed parts of Delhi-NCR (National Capital Region) in the wee hours of Tuesday, which is likely to create inconvenience for commuters during peak morning hours.Several parts of Delhi and its neighbouring areas, including Ghaziabad, witnessed heavy rainfall with thunderstorms on Tuesday early morning.Waterlogging was witnessed in several parts of Delhi after the rainfall.The India Meteorological Department has predicted thunderstorms with light to moderate-intensity rain over Delhi and nearby region."Thunderstorms with light to moderate intensity rain with heavy intensity rain over isolated places would occur over and adjoining areas of entire Delhi and NCR, Gannaur, Meham, Tosham, Rohtak, Bhiwani (Haryana) Baraut, Shikarpur, Khurja (UP) during next 2 hours," the weather department said in a statement released on Tuesday early morning.According to IMD, rain is also predicted in Kithor, Garhmukteshwar, Pilakhua, Hapur, Gulaoti, Siyana, Sikandrabad,

Untimely rains, hailstorm and strong winds have impacted wheat crop across more than 5.23 lakh hectare in three states, triggering fears of huge yield loss for farmers and harvesting challenges. India is one of the major producers of wheat, a key staple for a significant population, and the crop damage scenario also comes against the backdrop of persisting high inflation and food security woes globally amid geopolitical uncertainties. Around 5.23 lakh hectare of wheat crop is estimated to have been damaged in three states -- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh -- due to the inclement weather, according to officials. The assessment of wheat crop damage in Punjab and Haryana is underway, they said. This year, the wheat sown area is around 34 million hectare. The government is estimating a record 112.2 million tonne wheat output in the ongoing 2022-23 crop year (July-June), the officials said. Union Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja told PTI the government on Monday will rev

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Saturday directed officials to provide relief grants to the affected farmers by immediately surveying crop damage caused by hailstorms and rain in the last 24 hours, an official release said. He has also expressed condolence over the loss of lives in the state due to various calamities and instructed the district magistrates to immediately distribute the permissible relief amount from the state disaster response fund (SDRF) to the families of the deceased. The chief minister Saturday held a high-level meeting to review the situation arising out of recent untimely rains and hailstorms in various areas of the state and issued necessary guidelines to the officials. According to the details provided by the relief commissioner's office as many as seven people have lost their lives in incidents related to lightning, drowning and man-wildlife conflict in the past 24 hours. One life each was lost in Lucknow, Ghazipur, Hardoi and Varanasi due to

Delhi rains: Due to the poor weather conditions, 22 flights were diverted from Delhi airport late Thursday night to different airports in Lucknow, Jaipur, Dehradun and Chandigarh

How far and how much with the next round of rains impact the standing crop is under realm of speculation

FCI says on track to achieve FY24 procurement target; no lifting of export ban

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday said preliminary reports suggest that there is not much impact on standing rabi crops like wheat due to the current untimely rains and hailstorm. The minister, however, said that the Centre is yet to receive ground reports from the state governments. Speaking with PTI on the sidelines of an event, Tomar said, "There is not much impact on rabi crops as per the preliminary assessment." The state governments are still assessing the damage to the standing rabi crops, he said. The state governments can use the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) for providing immediate relief to farmers after conducting the crop survey. The central government can provide more funds from the National Disaster Relief Fund after the submission of a memorandum, he added. Wheat is the main rabi crop, harvesting of which is underway in some states. Mustard and chickpea are other major rabi crops. Many parts of the country received unseasonal rains, hail and

Rains and hailstorm may recede from tomorrow, but might reappear from Mar 24 particularly in North

The actual impact of the rains on crops such as wheat, mustard, etc will be known after the assessments

Warns farmers to harvest matured wheat, chickpea and veggies at the earliest

The prolonged dry spell in Himachal Pradesh has caused severe damage to the rabi crops and the maximum loss of Rs 2,857.78 lakh has been suffered in the Hamirpur district of the hill state, officials said on Thursday. As per the report of field officers from across the state, out of 4,01,853 hectares, crops on 85,538.20 hectares of land have been damaged due to inadequate/ deficient rains. In five districts of Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Mandi, Shimla and Sirmaur up to 33 per cent of Rabi crops have been damaged. The total loss to the crop was estimated at Rs 9,462 lakh rupees so far in ten out of 12 districts in the state barring the tribal areas of Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti, a spokesman of the Agriculture department said. The crop damage was below 33 per in the remaining five districts, the spokesperson added. Rainfed areas have been hit the most by the weather. The crops of wheat, barley and peas have been affected due to lack of rain, he said. Areas where farmers were completely

According to the latest data released by US Drought Monitor (USDM) on Thursday, moderate or severe drought still covered about 49 per cent of the Golden State

Says average max temperature in Feb 2023 highest since 1901; wheat crop under stress

The powerful winter storm has continued to lash California, bringing heavy rainfall, snowfall and strong winds that led to road closure, flooding, power outage, among other damages

Even in the October-December period, post-monsoon rainfall has been below par

According to a weather alert earlier, the approaching fresh cloud patches over Delhi was likely trigger a light to moderate spells of rainfall over the city