📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Kavali Chandrakanth KCK
Agriculture
Agriculture Ministry to Issue Advisory Promoting Short-Duration Crops Amid Expected Water Shortage
✍️ The Times of India
🗓 21 Oct 2026, 06:46 AM
👁 14
The Indian Agriculture Department plans to release an advisory urging farmers to adopt short-duration crops as a preemptive measure against an anticipated water shortage.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare has announced that it will soon circulate an advisory recommending the cultivation of short-duration crops across water-stressed regions. The move is intended to mitigate the impact of a projected water shortage that experts expect to intensify during the upcoming cropping season.
The advisory will advise farmers to select varieties that mature in a shorter period, thereby reducing irrigation demand and preserving limited water resources. Officials say the guidance will be based on regional climate forecasts and will include a list of suitable crops for different agro‑ecological zones.
By encouraging quicker‑growing crops, the department aims to sustain agricultural output while conserving groundwater and surface water supplies. The advisory is expected to be issued within the next few weeks, ahead of the sowing calendar for major rain‑fed and irrigated areas.
The initiative aligns with broader water‑management strategies that the government has been promoting to address chronic scarcity and to safeguard farmer livelihoods in the face of climate variability.
The advisory will advise farmers to select varieties that mature in a shorter period, thereby reducing irrigation demand and preserving limited water resources. Officials say the guidance will be based on regional climate forecasts and will include a list of suitable crops for different agro‑ecological zones.
By encouraging quicker‑growing crops, the department aims to sustain agricultural output while conserving groundwater and surface water supplies. The advisory is expected to be issued within the next few weeks, ahead of the sowing calendar for major rain‑fed and irrigated areas.
The initiative aligns with broader water‑management strategies that the government has been promoting to address chronic scarcity and to safeguard farmer livelihoods in the face of climate variability.