A failure of the monsoon in the east is likely to impact India's food basket adversely
A file photo of a dried canal in late May in Badokhar village on the outskirts of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. A severe heatwave in May had caused drought-like conditions in vast swathes of India's agricultural heartland as the rains that usually arrive before the country's prolonged monsoon season had failed. India is particularly vulnerable to drought as its under-developed agriculture sector is heavily dependent on timely, uninterrupted natural weather cycles for its survival.
Image: Ritesh Shukla/Getty Images