El Nino

India may avoid drought for fourth straight year: Expert

India may avoid a drought for a fourth straight year as the El Nino weather system looks unlikely to impact monsoon rains, a leading forecaster said on Thursday, promising yet another bumper grains output in the Asia's third-biggest economy. El Nino was a factor in India's last severe drought in 2009 when the country had to import sugar, pushing global prices to 30-year highs. ...

08:09 PM, Mar 07, 2013

India faces first drought in three years: IMD

by Reuters

New Delhi: Monsoon rains will not be enough to save the country from its first drought in three years, the weather office said on Thursday as it forecast that the El Nino weather pattern would reduce rains again in the second half of the June to September season. India, one of the world's largest food producers and consumers with a population of 1.2 billion, last suffered a drought in 2009,...

07:16 AM, Aug 03, 2012

Weak monsoon a worry, but no drought: Pawar

by CNN-IBN

New Delhi: The less-than-normal rainfall is likely to hit the agricultural sector hard and hinder its growth with Union Agriculture Minister Saharad Pawar and the Met Department on Monday admitting that monsoon has not been normal across large parts of the country. Even though Pawar refused to accept that the situation was drought-like, he added that the government would wait for the second week of August to make an official...

01:45 PM, Jul 16, 2012

Monsoon may be deficient in July: Met department

by CNN-IBN

New Delhi: There seems to be some bad news for farmers. The Met department has said that the monsoon may miss the forecast this month and may be deficient in July. It said that the El Nino effect, a phenomenon that causes temperature variations, may emerge in August and September. The Met department expects the monsoon to recover in rice-growing areas but not in Karnataka and the North-East. It says...

11:10 AM, Jul 16, 2012

India will have normal monsoon this year: IMD

by Reuters

New Delhi: India's monsoon is likely to have average rainfall in 2012 despite fears the El Nino weather pattern may emerge in the second half of the season, the country's top weather official said, pointing to a third straight year without drought. The June-September monsoon, vital for agricultural output and economic growth, irrigates around 60 per cent of farms in India, the world's second-biggest producer of rice, wheat, sugar and...

05:38 PM, Apr 17, 2012