Poor monsoon and scanty rains cause distress among farmers in Faizabad city of Uttar Pradesh as they feared a drought- like situation.
Delayed monsoon has raised the concerns of farmers who are facing difficulty with the plantation of crops. Upset farmers become hopeful of showers every time they see clouds in the sky, only to get disappointed later.
Meanwhile, a leader of State's Farmers' Union, Dev Narayan Singh, fretted over the scanty monsoon this year, adding, the prime time of farming is passing away.
"The conditions of farming are very worrisome, we are facing trouble as the prime time of farming is passing away and there is water scarcity," he said.
Farmers are bearing huge losses as inadequate rainfall has restricted regular agricultural activities. Insufficient downpours have also resulted in loss of crops like sugarcane.
The weather department forecasted rains and raised the hopes of farmers, though they have witnessed no scope of downpours.
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"Farming conditions have worsened, as there is no downpour and we depend on rainfall", said a local farmer, Shailendra.
Rains are forecast to gain momentum over most of the country early this month, but the agricultural ministry had said on July 01 that a drought-like situation might prevail in some pockets of western India.
The progress of monsoon towards the grain bowl belt of northwestern India, too, is late.
In 2009, the June-September monsoon season was the driest in 37 years with the first month posting a 47 percent below-average rainfall.
