Low humidity impacts crops in India

Amid climate expectations, USDA's latest weekly bulletin draws attention to atypical weather conditions in strategic regions of India. The data shows that substandard rainfall has been prevalent in much of the interior of the country, especially in the south and west, restricting essential water supplies for kharif crops. The main kharif crops include rice, millet, corn, sorghum, cotton, soybeans, peanuts, beans, and others. These crops depend largely on monsoon rains (rains that only occur in certain months of the year) Although parts of the north, specifically the Ganges River Basin, along with the eastern and northeastern regions, continue to record adequate rainfall for rice cultivation, with rates ranging from 25 to 100 mm, the vast majority of districts reported rainfall in August below 75% of the normal standard. This is especially worrying as August is traditionally the second wettest month of the year, preceded only by July. The current scenario puts producers in ...