Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday, 23 June 2026 chaired a wide-ranging review meeting at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi, bringing together state agriculture ministers, senior officials, district collectors, scientists, and experts to assess preparedness against a potentially weak monsoon and El Niño conditions.

Context

Posting on X, Chouhan said the meeting focused on ensuring that farmers face no hardship under any circumstances — 'kisan bhaiyon-bahnon ko kisi bhi paristhiti mein kathinaai na ho' (so that farmer brothers and sisters face no difficulty in any situation). He stated that the Centre and state governments are working together 'with full seriousness' to manage the threat.

The minister confirmed that potentially affected districts have been identified and special contingency plans have been drawn up for each. He urged farmers not to panic and to follow scientific advisories, conserve every drop of water, and adopt crop diversification.

Policy Backdrop

The meeting activated a set of targeted interventions: promotion of short-duration and low-water crops, a focus on pulses, oilseeds, and millets (Shri Anna), and ensuring adequate availability of seeds and fertilisers. Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) — district-level farm science centres under ICAR — and digital platforms have been mobilised to deliver scientific advisories directly to farmers.

A central monitoring cell and state-level coordination mechanisms are tracking the situation continuously. Chouhan highlighted three welfare pillars available to farmers in a crisis: the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (crop insurance), the Kisan Credit Card, and the PM-KISAN direct income-support scheme. PM-KISAN, launched in February 2019, provides Rs 6,000 per year to landholding farmer families, while PM Fasal Bima Yojana has been operational since kharif 2016.

The Ministry of Agriculture has maintained annual monsoon contingency planning frameworks, with documented precedent from the severe 2015-16 El Niño event, underscoring that this week's review follows an established institutional practice of pre-season risk assessment.

Stakeholders and Impact

The review directly concerns India's kharif sowing season, which is heavily dependent on the southwest monsoon. A weak monsoon driven by El Niño can suppress rainfall across key agricultural states, threatening yields of rice, pulses, and oilseeds and straining rural incomes.

By looping in district collectors alongside state ministers and scientists, the Centre is pushing contingency planning down to the sub-district level — a signal that the administration is treating the threat as operationally serious rather than merely advisory. Livestock welfare, including fodder arrangements, was also on the agenda, reflecting the breadth of rural livelihoods at risk.

Chouhan invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, stating that farmers' welfare and national food security remain the government's 'highest priority' under his guidance.

What's Next

Attention will now shift to India Meteorological Department updates on monsoon progress and any formal declaration of drought-affected districts, which would trigger relief protocols under existing frameworks. State agriculture ministers are expected to file follow-up reports on the execution of the contingency plans outlined at Tuesday's meeting.

With Krishi Vigyan Kendras and digital outreach channels already activated, the pace at which location-specific advisories reach farmers on the ground will be a key indicator of whether the coordination machinery translates into tangible field-level action before peak sowing begins.