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El Nino, monsoon and India’s food security: How they are linked

Fortunately enough for the last 4 years consecutively, from 2019 to 2022, the country enjoyed four consecutive years of good monsoons.

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Agriculture

India’s food security, especially post the Green Revolution, has been majorly taken care of by Punjab and Haryana.

But unfortunately, the two states had been witnessing a fallout in their contribution to assuring that India doesn’t go to bed empty stomachs. The fact that in the last two decades, the combined share of two states in total wheat procurement by the Central foodgrain pool for the Public Distribution System has fallen from 90% or even more to hardly 70%, scares the country’s food security. And to catalyse the insecurity, the data on the contribution of rice from two states, showing a decline from 43-44% to 28-29%, is there.

However, after bearing a loss of falling contribution to central procurement by almost 50%, their contribution has now again gone up in the last two years to 70-74%, reaffirming their image as reliable and all-weather contributors to national food security.

The reason for the falling contribution was El Niño. During this event, due to the weakening of trade winds, warm water gets pushed back to the east, toward the west coast of the Americas. This phenomenon releases more heat into the atmosphere, creating more wet and more warm air.

El Nino, if we go by past data, has been resulting in monsoon failures in India. Thus, the El Nino years, to mention, 2014, 2015, and 2018 recorded subnormal rainfall. Fortunately enough for the last 4 years consecutively, from 2019 to 2022, the country enjoyed four consecutive years of good monsoons.

The ramification of a subnormal monsoon would be on the Kharif crops, which are sowed in May and harvested in October. Rice may bear the impact more, as it is a highly water-intensive crop and it requires at least 25 irrigations in the absence of rain. Moreover, if El Niño gets stronger, the impact could even extend to the rabi, a winter-spring crop. These, especially wheat, are grown using groundwater and the water from dam reservoirs that are recharged or refilled by the monsoon water. A subnormal monsoon can, hence, threaten national food security, by hitting both rice and wheat production.

Punjab and Haryana which assures access to irrigation, hold the rope of food security’s responsibility. In 2022-23 Punjab solely cultivated paddy, rice with husk, on 31.67 lakh hectares which also includes 4.94 lakh hectares under basmati varieties.

An official from Punjab’s agriculture department even claimed that paddy yields in Punjab indeed tilt to go up during weak monsoon years. That’s because farmers then make use of groundwater only and irrigation then works according to their own plans. Their worries are rather more about the monsoon season prolonging and raining when it’s the harvesting period of crops.

2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Farooq Abdullah accuses PM Modi of trying to divide the country over religion

Faroukh Abdullah reacted to PM Modi’s remark that the Congress will redistribute people’s money and property to Muslims if voted to power and said Muslims respect all religions. He said that they are Muslims and Allah has told them to respect other religions. He further added that a Muslim cannot snatch anyone’s right.

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Farooq Abdullah, Jammu and Kashmir’s National Conference President said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trying to divide the country over religion. He also said that those who will vote for them must prepare for hell. Farooq Abdullah said Muslims cannot snatch away the rights of others.

Farooq Abdullah also called Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government a threat to the survival of the country. Omar Abdullah, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister cautioned the people not to divide this country on the basis of religion, otherwise a storm will unleash making the survival of the nation difficult. He said it is better to talk about uniting the country, instead of dividing its people.

He was addressing an election rally in Thanamandi area of the Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir. The Anantnag parliamentary constituency will go for elections on May 25. Faroukh Abdullah reacted to PM Modi’s remark that the Congress will redistribute people’s money and property to Muslims if voted to power and said Muslims respect all religions. He said that they are Muslims and Allah has told them to respect other religions. He further added that a Muslim cannot snatch anyone’s right.

He remembered an incident when former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi once stopped his car in Pulwama and assured a poor Hindu woman that he would give her a mangalsutra as she could not afford it. Farooq Abdullah said those who were against the INDIA bloc are against the nation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier sparked a controversy last month as he commented that the Congress would take away the hard-earned money of the masses and distribute them among infiltrators and those with many children.  Speaking at a rally today, the Prime Minister took a jibe at the Congress and said the governments in the past were not able to implement the Indian Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir. He was referring to the revocation of Article 370.

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Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah writes to PM Modi, urges home ministry to cancel diplomatic passport of Prajwal Revanna

CM Siddaramaiah wrote in the letter to PM Modi that he must be aware of the serious case of alleged sexual exploitation of a number of women by the sitting Hassan Lok Sabha member of Parliament (MP) and the NDA candidate, Prajwal Revanna, for the same constituency for the  ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

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Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where he urged the Home Affairs Ministry to cancel the diplomatic passport of Prajwal Revanna. Earlier a day before Revanna was suspended by JD(S) amid a row over explicit videos. Revanna is believed to have escaped to Germany shortly after the first phase of elections ended in Karnataka on April 26, in which he was JD(S)-BJP’s candidate from Hassan.

CM Siddaramaiah wrote in the letter to PM Modi that he must be aware of the serious case of alleged sexual exploitation of a number of women by the sitting Hassan Lok Sabha member of Parliament (MP) and the NDA candidate, Prajwal Revanna, for the same constituency for the  ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The Karnataka Chief Minister wrote in letter that the Congress government in Karnataka has constituted a Special Investigation Team to investigate the allegations against Revanna. The SIT is working day and night to investigate the allegations of crimes against several women by Prajwal Revanna and getting him back to the country is of utmost importance so that he faces investigation and trial as per the existing law of the land.

Siddaramaiah urged PM Modi to move the Home Ministry to take swift action to cancel the diplomatic passport of Prajwal Revanna and appropriate action must be taken using diplomatic and police channels of the Government of India as well as international police agencies to ensure the swift return of the absconding member of parliament to face the existing law of the land.

Suspended JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna, accused of sexually assaulting multiple women, broke his silence on Wednesday and said that truth will prevail soon. In his first response since the controversy erupted, Prajwal Revanna said on X that he is not in Bengaluru currently and has communicated the same to CID.

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Amit Shah says BJP will neither remove reservation for SCs, STs and OBC, nor will allow Congress to do so

The Home Minister alleged that the Congress’ formula was to speak lies loudly, publicly and repetitively. He advised Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge not to speak lies for a family as eventually he will have to take the blame for the party’s loss in the Lok Sabha elections

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday continued to attack Congress over reservation row. He was addressing a rally in Katghora town of Chhattisgarh’s Korba district to campaign for Saroj Pandey, BJP candidate from the Korba Lok Sabha seat where Shah said BJP will neither remove reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs, nor will it allow Congress to do so.

The Home Minister alleged that the Congress’ formula was to speak lies loudly, publicly and repetitively. He advised Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge not to speak lies for a family as eventually he will have to take the blame for the party’s loss in the Lok Sabha elections. Shah accused Congress of nurturing terrorism and Naxalism to win the Lok Sabha elections.

Shah further added that Congress claims if Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji gets majority for the third term, he will scrap reservation. He said the grand old party has even circulated his fake video. Shah said that have been in power for the last 10 years and PM Modi did not remove reservation, nor will he do it in the future.

The Union Home Minister further asserted Modi ji used the majority to scrap Article 370 and triple talaq, construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and introduce the Citizenship Amendment Act. He further told the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi do not belong to anyone. He said on June 4 Congress will suffer defeat and the brother-sister duo will remain safe, but Kharge ji will be blamed.

Shah further asserted if PM Modi becomes the prime minister for the 3rd straight term, then Naxalism will be uprooted in two years in Chhattisgarh.  Shah targeted the previous Bhupesh Baghel-led government in Chhattisgarh and said, The Bhupesh Kakka government encouraged Naxalism, but after the BJP came to power in the state under CM Vishnu Deo Sai and Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma 95 Naxalites have been eliminated in 4 months.

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