Deficient rainfall during the monsoon has the highest impact on agricultural productivity in Karnataka and Maharashtra which have low irrigation cover (18 per cent to 34 per cent of crop area), according to a Crisil Research report.
Based on a DRIP index (deficient rainfall impact parameter), the report said that pulses such as arhar (pigeon pea), jowar (sorghum) and soya bean will be the most affected in Karnataka.
It said “DRIP scores are naturally high for Maharashtra and Karnataka” owing to low irrigated area to the total crop area ratio. The irrigated area to cropped area ratio in Karnataka is 34.3 per cent, it said.
Crucial crop such as pulses (toor dal) has been badly affected because of dry spells in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, which are the key growing areas, Crisil, a rating agency, said in its October report.
The report, which covered the rainfall from June to September in five States, has seen a rainfall deficiency of nearly 20 per cent in Karnataka).
The situation is most precarious in Maharashtra and Karnataka, where reservoir levels, as of October 1, 2015, were 43 per cent below normal. U.P., Maharashtra and Karnataka account for close to 30 per cent of India’s kharif foodgrain production, it said.
“The impact of a monsoon shock is accentuated due to high vulnerability of the farm sector stemming from disproportionately high dependence on agriculture income, high indebtedness and farmer suicides, low irrigation buffer and poor crop insurance cover,” the report said.
‘Deficient rainfall during the monsoon has the highest impact on agricultural productivity in Karnataka and Maharashtra’
