24. Impact of Drought on Kharif Crops in Southern India during 2002 as Compared with Kharif 2003

The monsoon rainfall which influences the performance of kharif as well as rabi crops is the pivot of Indian agriculture. However aberration in monsoon rainfall causes lots of variations in the foodgrain production. Monsoon 2002 was one of the worst drought affected year when only 15 out of 36 meteorological sub-divisions had received normal to excess rainfall during June to September. Rainfall deficiency during July 2002 was 49%, which adversely affected the performance of kharif crops. The crops suffered moderately to severaly during 2002 in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu (TN); in parts of Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) and partially in Kerala. In contrast, monsoon 2003 was marked by well distributed normal rainfall throughout the country with 33 out of 36 meteorological sub-divisions received normal or excess rainfall. Though, the overall performance of kharif crops was better during 2003 in southern India, crops suffered in interior Karnataka due to intra-seasonal moderate to severe aridity in some months. Major kharif crops suffered marginally in Kerala also during the same year. The paper discusses the impact of drought on kharif crops in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karntaka and Kerala during monsoon 2002 along with the evaluation of the performance of monsoon 2003 in respect of agricultural production. Daily rainfall for both the years, were used for computation of weekly/monthly cumulative actual rainfall for each of the four Agrometeorological Advisory Services (AAS) units of the above mentioned states of peninsular India. The crop information (reflecting the kharif crops’ performance) were collected from the Sate Agricultural Deptt. through AAS units of IMD situated at Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Bangalore (Karnataka) and Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala). Besides, inputs from all India monthly weather and crop bulletins as prepared by the AAS (HQ) units, of India Meteorological Department, and crop condition reports received from the respective State Department of Agriculture were also incorporated in the study. Aridity anomaly reports as prepared by office of the ADGM(R), IMD, Pune were also considered for identifying the drought-affected areas. Information on pests and diseases were collected from various State Agricultural Departments as well as from PPQ&S, Faridabad. During 2002, in the study area of southern India, crops were affected by moderate drought, except in Kerala and coastal Karnataka (CK) where kharif crops were moderately satisfactory due to adequate rainfall. Moderate to severe aridity prevailed in the region (excluding Kerala and CK) during July and by the end of September 2002. During 2003, crops suffered due to moderate to severe aridity during end of June, end of July and September in interior Karnataka. The comparative performances during kharif seasons revealed that ragi, groundnut, maize and rice suffered in Karnataka during 2003 as compared to the performance of those crops in 2002. In other states (viz., Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala) area covered under all major kharif crops were larger during 2003 as compared to drought affected year 2002. However, during kharif 2002, contingent crops, viz., maize, sunflower, soyabean in Andhra Pradesh and pulses in Karnataka performed well. The overall crop performance in southern India was partially satisfactory during 2002 which improved considerably during 2003 when well distributed normal rainfall was received in most parts of these states.