India to tackle drought shortfalls 'with imports'

India will import lentils, edible oil and other staples to cope with any shortfalls caused by a widespread drought that has badly hurt crops, the finance minister said Friday.

The statement by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee came as the country of nearly 1.2 billion people faces its weakest monsoon in at least seven years.

"We shall go for imports" of "whichever commodity will be in short supply," Mukherjee told a state farm ministers' meeting in the Indian capital.

He noted supplies of pulses and edible oil were already running short. India is the world's largest consumer and importer of pulses.

But Mukherjee said India has enough grain stocks to tide it through for the moment.

"We are starting the drought year with good buffer stocks," Mukherjee said.

"The government has the experience to deal with such situations and we need not lose confidence in ourselves," he added.

The government would not announce the timing of any imports so as to avoid market prices being automatically jacked up, he said.

Consumers are already experiencing soaring food prices due to the weak rains.

Of India's 626 districts, 246 have been declared drought-hit with the annual monsoon running at 26 percent below average since the start of the rains in June, according to the latest meteorological report.

Mukherjee warned the poor rains would have "a cascading effect," hurting crop planting, hydro-electric generation, groundwater levels and recharging of reservoirs.

He appealed to farmers to start sowing their winter wheat crops as early as possible in order to ensure a good harvest and make up for losses suffered in the summer-growing season.

The winter wheat crop is normally sown in November and harvested in March while rice and sugar are key summer crops.

The rains during the June-September monsoon are expected to be 87 percent of the 50-year average, the weather office has forecast.

With only 40 percent of arable land under irrigation, India's 235 million farmers rely on the rains to grow their crops.

India is one of the world's leading producers of rice, wheat and sugar