New Delhi, July 10: Fear of drought may have eased with the India Meteorological Department saying that the country has received good rain in the last two weeks.
There was good rainfall in the last two weeks in the east, south and central parts of India, IMD Director B P Yadav told PTI.
The US Department of Agriculture said in a report released on June 29 that India may face a severe drought if the rains did not come in a week.
“The window of opportunity for planting of most kharif crops (rice, coarse grains, soybeans, peanut, cotton, and pulses) will be over by mid-July.
“If (the) rains come in the next one week, planting operations will pick up. Otherwise the country will be heading for a drought, which could be more serious than the 2002 drought, which resulted in significant crop losses,” the USDA report had said. © Copyright 2000 – 2009 The Hindu
–PTI