Pics: India's summer crops may get a boost in rainy reason; Surprised?!

New Delhi, Aug 1: The rains in August are crucial in many ways. While it will give respite to the states that were reeling under the heat for the past few months, it may also give the worried farmers a reason to smile. Experts believe that the rains in August hold the key to India's major summer crops like ice, soybean, cane and cotton.

The five-month monsoon span had a very dry start indeed, with almost no rains till the end of July, giving rise to fears of the country's worst draught after 2009, when monsoon was the weakest in the last four decades.

Agriculture accounts for around 14 percent of India's economy. In fact, 2-3rd of the nation's 1.2 billion people depend on farming for their livelihoods and more than half of the arable lands require summer rains.

People holding umbrellas as it rains at Dharavi

People holding umbrellas as it rains at Dharavi, Mumbai on Thursday.

A crack seen on the highway caused by the erosion

A crack seen on the highway caused by the erosion due to heavy rains at Kasara Ghat near Igatpuri, Maharashtra on Thursday.

Children use a temporary raft to shift in a flooded village

Children use a temporary raft to shift in a flooded village in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

A vendor selling vegetables in a flooded locality in Ahmedabad

A vendor selling vegetables in a flooded locality in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

Women work collectively for a protection wall

Women work collectively for a protection wall to save their society from floods after heavy rains in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

An army man in his flooded room in Ahmedabad

An army man in his flooded room in Ahmedabad on Wednesday following heavy rains.

A family shifting from a flooded locality after heavy rains

A family shifting from a flooded locality after heavy rains in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

Commuters wade through flooded water during heavy rain

Commuters wade through flooded water during heavy rain in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

Vehicles stuck at a flooded road during heavy rains

Vehicles stuck at a flooded road during heavy rains in Valsad district on Tuesday.

The 2009 droughts cut back on sugar cane production and pushed the sugar price in New York by 30 times. By the end of that very year, India's food inflation had reached double digits, with falling rice production too.

J.S. Sandhu, India's farm commissioner says,"Rainfall in August is crucial as plantings for most of the summer crops have already been delayed due to the poor start of the rain season." Another farm official said,"August holds the key as a quarter below average rains would make drought a reality."

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