Ahmedabad: The Indian Meteorological Department has sounded a fresh weather warning for South Gujarat and Saurashtra as unseasonal October rains could affect farmers the most this year as well. According to the IMD’s latest weather bulletin, light to moderate thundershowers are likely to occur across Surat, Navsari, Daman, Vadodara as well as several districts in Saurashtra including Surendranagar, Rajkot, Amreli, Devbhoomi Dwarka and Jamnagar.
Currently, most coastal and interior districts of Gujarat- including Surat, Dwarka and Kutch are already under yellow alert, and this is expected to persist for the next few days as well.
According to the Director General of the IMD, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, this October has witnessed almost 115% more rainfall than usual, breaking 50-year-old records.
“One of the most notable changes is the extension of rains into October, especially in the Indo-Gangetic plains. Regions in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand, which typically prepare for harvest in early October, are now receiving unseasonal rains, delaying harvests and threatening the quality of crops like rice, maize, and pulses,” Vishwas Chitale, Senior Programme Lead at Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) said.
Farmers woes continue
The shifting monsoon has become a growing concern for farmers, especially as excessive rainfall can impact crop yields. According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, extreme weather events like this has already damaged 33.9 million hectares of crops, and global warming is expected to worsen the issue.
This news couldn’t come at a worse time for farmers in South Gujarat, especially as these unseasonal rains can damage their crops and reduce the yields as well. There could be huge losses for cotton, pulses and millet crops, especially since the market-driven prices don’t always cover the costs, and government procurement of the total yields doesn’t always cover the entire crop.
This year, farmers have been complaining about the delay in procurement for groundnut, with the deadline for registration already due.
With rainfall forecasted for the entire week, the IMD has suggested taking precautionary measures to avert potential flooding.
