Drought -- National Drought Mitigation Center

 

Title

Localized Severe Drought during 1996 and Its Impact on Crop Production in Raipur District of Central India

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

June 1997

Comments

Published in Drought Network News Vol. 9, No. 2, Jun. 1997. Published by the International Drought Information Center and the National Drought Mitigation Center, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska – Lincoln.

In Raipur district, the onset of the monsoon occurred in the 25th standard meteorological week (June 18–24). But after the onset of monsoonal rains, there was a lull in the monsoon for about 2 consecutive weeks. In the 28th week (July 9–15), the district received 77.6 mm of rainfall. This was equal to the normal value for that week. In the following (29th) week, the district received 96.8 mm rainfall, 38.9% more than the normal rainfall for that week.

Thus, the rice, soybean, and other crops sown with the onset of the monsoon in the 25th week suffered from acute water shortage during the 26th and 27th weeks (June 25–July 8), and the germination of these crops was affected. Those farmers who had resown their crop received good rainfall during the 28th and 29th weeks (July 9–22). In the 32nd week, there was a total rainfall of 258.4 mm at Labhandi, Raipur, compared to the weekly normal of 77.1 mm. However, out of this, 222.0 mm of rainfall was received in only one day—July 31/August 1, 1996. Because the rice seedlings were very small at that stage, most farmers drained the water out of their fields.