Maharashtra drought: State records 18.8% rain deficit, 40-50% rain deficit across six districts

For Pramod Gaikwad (42), a soybean farmer from Dharashiv’s Chincholi village, waiting for rain is the only hope to ensure that his crops survive the long dry spell or use a rotavator, a tractor to churn the sown land and level the soil, making space for new crop.

“The soybean plant flowered, but due to insufficient moisture, the germination was delayed, and saplings started drying up,” said Pramod, adding that his region received only one spell of rainfall towards the end of July, and since then it has been a dry spell. Pramod owns 10 acres of land and expects to make around ₹1 - 1.5 lakh in profit on Soybean yield this year.