Soil moisture: mulching and field bunds after a dry monsoon

When the monsoon is weak, the water already in the soil is precious. Two simple practices, mulching and field bunds, help it last longer.

What the official advisory says. IMD's agromet advisory bulletin for Karnataka, issued on 16 October 2026 with state agricultural universities, repeatedly recommends mulching to conserve soil moisture for crops such as finger millet, groundnut, horse gram and red gram. It suggests mulching the soil with crop debris, and for fruit trees such as guava, using dry leaves or straw. For orchards it advises keeping organic mulch around the tree basin but away from the trunk.

Bunds. The bulletin also advises conserving available soil moisture by strengthening field bunds and minimising water losses, so that rain that does fall soaks in rather than running off.

Use stored water wisely. Where farm ponds, borewells or other sources exist, it advises life-saving irrigation at critical crop growth stages, rather than spreading scarce water thinly.

Check your own bulletin. Advice varies by crop and district. IMD and its partner universities publish agromet bulletins for every district twice a week. Look for yours on the Meghdoot app or ask your KVK.

Join the El Niño help room on soshyal.com to ask questions and share what you see in your area.