El Niño Concerns Put Centre on Alert, Farmers' Interests to be Protected at All Costs: Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan

📌 Summary:

• Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan chaired a high-level review on Southwest Monsoon, El Niño, water availability, seed arrangements and state preparedness at Krishi Bhawan
• IMD has indicated 2026 SW Monsoon may be below normal — around 90% of the Long Period Average (LPA) — with El Niño conditions possibly developing during the season
• All-India reservoir live storage at 127.01% of normal for the assessed period — cushions Kharif irrigation needs and reduces moisture-deficit risk
• Government activating district-level contingency plans for low-rainfall and dry-spell zones: special monitoring, alternative crops, delayed-sowing strategies, drought-resistant seed varieties
• National Seed Reserve already stocked for both Kharif and Rabi seasons; mobile advisories, pest/disease alerts and crop guidance being pushed to farmers directly
• Government's strategic thrust: climate-resilient agriculture, expanded irrigation, micro-irrigation, area-specific/crop-specific advisories, real-time weather-linked decision support
• Chouhan stressed contingency plans must "not remain on paper" but visible on the ground with full Centre–State coordination

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS1 Geography (El Niño/monsoon dynamics); GS3 Agriculture (climate-resilient agriculture, contingency planning); GS3 Disaster Management (drought preparedness).

📝 Prelims Facts:

• IMD projects 2026 SW Monsoon at ~90% of Long Period Average (LPA)
• IMD classification: "Below normal" = 90–96% of LPA; "Deficient" = <90%
• All-India reservoir live storage = 127.01% of normal for the assessed period
• El Niño = anomalous warming of central/eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean SST; typically suppresses Indian SW monsoon rainfall
• La Niña = the opposite (cooling) phase; usually enhances Indian monsoon
• National Seed Reserve maintained by Ministry of Agriculture for emergency crop-shortage scenarios

🔑 Key Term: El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) — coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon in the equatorial Pacific; the warm phase (El Niño) often weakens the Indian Southwest Monsoon, while La Niña tends to enhance it. Monitored via SST anomalies in Niño 3.4 region.