Technology and prudent practices can ensure that crop output does not suffer in years of drought.
Yield loss due to natural calamity is calculated based on field reports and assessment of crop-cutting experiments by district and block agriculture officers.
The maximum death toll has been reported from Idukki district, where 43 people have lost their lives so far, as per official estimates. 28 deaths were reported in Malappuram and 27 in Thrissur.
Monsoon revival over weekend likely, but second-half rainfall may be muted. If the rains become scarce after mid-August, the standing kharif crops might be impacted
Officials said good rain in August - though it might not improve acreages much for most crops except urad, moong, and paddy - would help in improving yields in the crops already planted.
The monsoon this year in India was likely to be 'below normal' at 95% of LPA: Skymet
'The difficulty of coordinating the response in Uttarakhand suggests that the country is ill-equipped to deal with a large earthquake in a mountainous area. The effects would be many times worse,' warns Dave Petley, expert on landslides
Even as Tauktae's intensity weakened, it left behind a trail of destruction with as many as 13 people losing their lives in different parts of Gujarat, including Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Patan, Amreli and Valsad, officials said.
The metrological department on Saturday said that Phailin is a very severe 'super cyclone' and its wind speed may go up to 200 and 240 km per hour by noon itself.
The total rainfall till now is not only deficient, but is also erratic in terms of both geographical spread and timings.
Though the summer is expected to be hotter, global and domestic forecasts point to good rains.
In the first of a two-part series, Business Standard examines the impact of the upcoming summer on agriculture and drinking water supply.
Rains will continue to batter Tamil Nadu for the next seven days and the next 48 hours are "very crucial", the IMD has said.
As visibility remained poor and the city choked due to a haze, the Centre for Science and Environment asked the Delhi govt to roll out stringent plans for controlling winter pollution.
A portion of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday, triggering an avalanche and a deluge in the Alaknanda river system that washed away hydroelectric stations, leaving at least seven people dead and 125 missing who are feared dead.
Sixteen deaths in rain and flood-related incidents have been reported from western Maharashtra in the last seven days, while the toll in Karnataka rose to five since Sunday.
Life in Mumbai was on Wednesday slowly coming back on tracks as rains subsided and hundreds of stranded commuters headed home with the partial resumption of suburban train services.
Ford said it had also shut its plant, with an annual capacity of 340,000 engines and 200,000 vehicles.
The incident is said to have occurred in the wee hours when a huge mound of earth fell on the 'row houses' and two children and five women were among the deceased, most of whom were plantation workers from neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
Two days later, Afghanistan and Pakistan are still trying to dig out people from the rubble, even as panic spreads across the region.
Shutters of at least 22 reservoirs in the state have been opened to drain out excess water.
Scientists at the India Meteorological Department warn that not only has India turned hotter in the last two decades, but that heat waves are projected to become more intense, have longer durations and greater frequency, thereby resulting in more deaths.
'The first two months of monsoon are not looking good.' 'In case both the halves fail, it is going to be misery.'
Global cues lift Sensex 364 points; Nifty ends above 8,650.
Asian Paints was the top gainer after the paints major posted robust first quarter earnings.
'All El Ninos are not associated with the deficient monsoon.'
Gale-force winds, heavy rainfall and high tidal waves swept the coastal belt of Kerala, Karnataka and Goa as Cyclone Tauktae hurtled northwards towards Gujarat on Sunday, leaving four people dead in Karnataka and two in Goa, damaging hundreds of houses, uprooting electricity poles and trees and forcing evacuation.
The deep depression in the Arabian Sea has intensified into cyclonic storm "Ashobaa" and is expected to further develop into a "super cyclonic storm" in next 24-36 hours, the weather office said on Monday.
Residents in Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra continue to struggle as floods leave them in a watery hell.
Of that figure, a whopping 4,246 people died in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana alone.
This was the near-unanimous replies of 10 market participants.
Sensex sinks into red at close on growth concerns.
In a lot of ways, Tamil Nadu votes exactly as do other states. But at places there are crucial differences.
The India Meteorological Department on Tuesday said the monsoon this year is expected to be 'above normal.'
Tata Motors was the top gainer on better-than-expected June quarter revenues
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's batting position will be under spotlight as India aim to go for the kill against a gutsy New Zealand in the third T20 International despite weather threatening to play spoilsport.
The IMD has fancy weather-monitoring radars in the name of providing better forecasts.
The IMD on its part is sticking to its forecast of July rainfall.
A new 7.3-magnitude earthquake and seven powerful aftershocks struck Nepal on Tuesday killing at least 50 people and triggering panic in the Himalayan nation already devastated by a monster temblor less than three weeks ago that had claimed over 8,000 lives.
