India Thursday officially declared "drought" with the monsoon failing across the country and some 161 of out of approximately 600 districts in India are now drought-affected.

Northwest India received 42 percent deficient rain, followed by northeast that got 36 percent deficient rain, south peninsula which received 22 percent less rainfall and central India received 19 percent deficient rainfall.

"Monsoon rains are critical to India's farm prospects, which account for a sixth of its economic output. Up to 70 percent of Indians are dependent on farm incomes, and about 60 percent of India's farms depend on rains. Lower monsoon rainfall than normal is responsible for the drought," said Mumbai-based agriculture scientist Professor Ravi Kumar Desai.

"The summer rains are too crucial to crops such as rice, soybean, sugarcane and cotton. So, drought is indeed a matter of concern for the country. Not only the farmers, we will all suffer," he said.

Food retails prices in India soared by 32 percent in June and July, triggering fear of hunger among millions of poor who cannot afford to buy food. Price speculations are blamed for the hike, but the bad monsoon season is believed to be the major reason behind this.

Political scientist Professor Ajay Singh said"After several downward revisions on the monsoon, India has also now said the months of August-September will get around 85-90 percent rainfall. For north India, including the national capital, the news still hasn't become better. The monsoon current is still very weak over the region, and by mid-September, the monsoon is likely to withdraw from the country."

In fact, the official declaration of drought came barely a couple of days after Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee assured the country, saying the worst drought was in 1987 and this year's deficient rainfall would result only in 20 percent drop in the sowing of summer crops.

"This country managed the century's worst drought in 1987. We transported drinking water through the railways. We organized fodder for the cattle. This country has the experience of handling the situation and I will advise not to press the panic button," Mukherjee said earlier this week.

But, people wonder whether this official declaration by the Indian Meteorological Department would impact the prices of essential commodities even further.

"The declaration will come as a blow for India's agriculture belt, which is already reeling with the lack of rainfall and the shortage in produce, particularly the states of Bihar and Haryana are the worst affected. Though many of the affected districts are not the major crop-producing areas, the drought is likely to hit farm output and lead to food inflation," said political science professor SK Gupta.

Sensing the situation, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday convened a meeting of chief ministers of all the Indian states to discuss the issue of food security in light of the drought.

Agriculture expert KR Sharma said that despite the Prime Minister and Finance Minister's assurances, only time could tell how much impact drought will have on Indian food security.

"One positive thing is that India is a growing economy and it is expected that growth will be there despite drought. India's food security is at stake. Rains have failed but the Indian government has to deliver," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2009)