India prepares contingency plans due to weak monsoon season

<p>India is drawing up plans to prepare for weaker-than-usual monsoon rains and the likely impact on crops in the world’s most populous nation.</p>
<p>The monsoon season has so far brought rains about 43 percent below average, and India’s Meteorological Department has forecast continued weak precipitation through the week ending July 2, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Tuesday.</p>
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<p>The monsoon delivers about 70 percent of the annual rains in India and is critical for replenishing water sources in the nation of at least 1.4 billion people, where nearly half of the farmland lacks irrigation and about half of the population relies on farming for its livelihood.</p>
<p>The rains typically arrive in Kerala, southwest India, on June 1, and sweep northwards. They are critical to the country’s economic health, enabling farmers to plant cotton, soya beans, sugar cane, rice and corn.</p>










