Agriculture Secretary Atish Chandra on Wednesday said the ministry is awaiting the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) forecast by the end of this month to get a clearer picture on the El Nino timeline before deciding on concrete steps to mitigate the likely impact on kharif crops.
“The prediction on when El Nino will set in is still to come. By the end of this month, IMD will come out with the forecast, and then the picture will be clearer. We will then be in the thick of the kharif sowing season and will know how it is going to pan out,” Chandra told PTI in an interview.
While there have been broad forecasts of El Nino setting in around November, IMD is seeking greater certainty before firming up its assessment.
A key variable being tracked is the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) a climate pattern characterised by irregular sea surface temperature oscillations in the Indian Ocean. After remaining positive in May, the IOD has turned neutral in June.
