Mumbai: Farmers in India run the risk of planting too much, too fast in the current monsoon season as an unexpected dry spell starts to wilt summer-sown crops, raising fears of lower yields and potentially forcing some farmers to re-sow crops.
Lower yields or crop failure will increase discontent among farmers that has triggered protests in the big agrarian states in recent months and forced the state governments to waive billions of dollars of farm loans.
The ongoing dryness is affecting central, western and southern India, key producing regions for cotton, soybean, corn, sugarcane, pulses and rice.
Poor output of summer crops could also raise food prices, restricting the central bank from cutting lending rates, crucial to boosting Asia's third-biggest economy.
“Farmers sowed crops on time, but now they will wilt unless rainfall revives in next few days,” said Faiyaz Hudani, deputy vice president at Kotak Commodity Services Pvt Ltd. “In some regions farmers will have no option but to re-sow crops.”
