The report discusses the climate condition over Indian region during the year 2023. Notably, global temperatures soared to exceptionally high levels during this period (WMO.No.1347). The India Meteorological Department continuously monitors weather and climate over Indian region.

The Global Water Monitor provides free, rapid and global information on climate and water resources. This summary report contains information on rainfall, air temperature, humidity, soil and groundwater conditions, vegetation access to water, river flows, flooding, and lake volumes in 2023.

Ground Water Year Book is prepared annually by CGWB depicting changes in groundwater regime of the country through different seasons. It is an effort to obtain information on groundwater levels through representative monitoring wells. The important attributes of groundwater regime monitoring are groundwater level.

India grappled with extreme weather events for 235 days out of the first nine months of 2023, a slight decrease from the 241 days recorded in the same period last year, as per India 2023: An assessment of extreme weather events brought out by Down To Earth (DTE) magazine and the Centre for Science and Environment.

The Central Government has proposed a draft methodology for ‘Water Harvesting-based Green Credit’ under the Green Credit Rules, 2023. This draft was issued on 23rd October, 2023. These proposed amendments aim to further enhance the Green Credit Programme’s effectiveness in promoting sustainable water harvesting projects.

The annual mean land surface air temperature averaged over India during 2022 was +0.51°C above the long-term average (1981-2010 period). The year 2022 was the fifth warmest year on record since nationwide records commenced in 1901.

India is in the tropical monsoon zone and received plenty of rainfall. Most of the annual rainfall occurs during the summer monsoon season (June-September) every year. However, the distribution of rainfall over the entire Indian region is not homogeneous.

This issue of the Agri-Food Trends and Analytics Bulletin (AF-TAB) aims to explore the relationship between El Niño, erratic and unseasonal rainfall, and its impact on agricultural production as well as food inflation.