Centre readies a contingency plan for 315 districts as El Niño threatens the monsoon

With a weak or uncertain monsoon feared, the Agriculture Ministry has rolled out a multi-layered Kharif strategy — short-duration, low-water crops, water conservation and the PMFBY-KCC-PM-KISAN safety nets — for vulnerable districts.

What happened

• With the possibility of El Niño and a weak or uncertain monsoon, the Central Government has intensified its Kharif-season preparedness.
• Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan chaired a high-level virtual meeting with state agriculture ministers, senior officials, district collectors and experts from ICAR, ICAR-CRIDA and the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
• The Centre rolled out a special contingency plan for 315 vulnerable districts, shifting focus to short-duration, low-water crops — prioritising pulses, millets and oilseeds.
• A major push on water conservation (ponds, check dams and farm reservoirs) was announced, with assurances that seeds, fertilisers and fodder stocks are secured and no input shortages are expected.
• Farmers' three key safety nets during El Niño conditions were identified as PMFBY (crop insurance), the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and PM-KISAN.

For Prelims

• El Niño & monsoon: El Niño (the warm phase of ENSO in the tropical Pacific) is often associated with a weaker/deficient Indian southwest monsoon — critical because much of Kharif sowing is rain-fed.
• Kharif crops: Monsoon-sown (June-Oct) crops — paddy, cotton, soybean, maize, pulses (tur/moong/urad), bajra/jowar; short-duration, low-water crops (pulses, millets, oilseeds) are climate-resilient choices.
• Contingency planning: ICAR-CRIDA (Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad) prepares district agriculture contingency plans for droughts/weather extremes.
• PMFBY: The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana — the crop-insurance scheme covering yield losses from natural calamities (a key El Niño safety net).
• KCC & PM-KISAN: The Kisan Credit Card provides farm credit; PM-KISAN gives Rs 6,000/year income support — together cushioning farmers in a bad season.
• Millets & resilience: Millets ('Shree Anna') are hardy, low-water, climate-resilient crops — promoted for nutrition and drought resilience (India led the 2023 International Year of Millets).
• Don't confuse: El Niño raises the RISK of a weak monsoon but does not guarantee drought (the IOD and other factors also matter); this is advance contingency planning, not a declared drought.

For Mains

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