Connect to share and comment  India, explained  India prepares
for worst as monsoon failure looms  A drought could force India
to import crops like sugar -- which in 2009 sent world prices to
30-year highs  India is already preparing for the worst, as a
failure of the monsoon looms on the horizon.  So far marking a
22 percent deficiency in the monsoon, the government has swung
into action, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh directing all
departments and ministries to coordinate with states to monitor
the situation on a weekly basis, NDTV reported Tuesday. Rainfall
is nearly below 40 percent in major agricultural states, the
worst affected being Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and
Maharashtra.  As the worst drought in decades hits US
agriculture, the rest of the world faces the specter of another
food crisis. But in India, domestic conditions will play a far
more important role. Indian agriculture is largely insulated
from world markets, with the country's imports and exports of
farm produce relatively insignifica