A silver lining

Expected surplus farm output will need careful handling

With the highest-ever crop planting and copious monsoon rain, the stage seems set for a bumper harvest in the current kharif season. In fact, the conditions appear favourable for bountiful output in the subsequent rabi season as well. One of the key reasons for that is the abundant rain in August, the highest since 1988, which has refilled the reservoirs and recharged the groundwater to meet the irrigation needs over an extended period. The agriculture ministry, therefore, seems confident that farm production in 2020-21 may scale a new peak, outstripping last year’s record output by a good margin. If this