Number Theory: Is harsh weather the norm in cereal-producing states?
Only 17 states account for 97% of India’s cereal output, according to normal estimates of cereal production from the agriculture ministry.
A survey of small farmers conducted in April by Forum of Enterprises for Equitable Development, an independent non-profit, has found that almost half of those producing rice and wheat, India’s staple diet, were affected by crop loss due to an extreme weather event in the past five years. The results of the survey, released on June 25, come at a time when summer maximum temperatures have made new records in India’s cereal producing states and the monsoon’s arrival is delayed over the Gangetic plains. This makes it important to check if extreme weather is now the norm in India’s cereal producing states. While the general answer to this question is an expected one, the following four charts will attempt to answer the question in context of cereal production and past month’s weather pattern of high temperatures and delayed rains.
