New Delhi, June 23 -- New Delhi is mobilizing emergency agricultural defences for hundreds of districts, as a weak monsoon threatens to disrupt food production and strain the rural economy.

The government has activated contingency plans across 315 vulnerable districts to prevent fields from lying fallow, guiding farmers towards alternative, low-water crops like pulses and millets, agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Tuesday. The government is also fast-tracking local water-harvesting initiatives such as check dams and farm ponds, while deploying a dedicated El Niño monitoring cell to track real-time weather, even as monsoon rains remain about 43% below normal.

"We do not want farmers to leave their land fallow. Alter...