Monsoon’s full withdrawal delayed by a week

“The current meteorological analysis suggests a delay in the withdrawal of southwest monsoon from… east and northeast India,” said an IMD statement on Sunday.

“Rain or thundershowers would occur over Orissa,West Bengal,Jharkhand,Chhattisgarh,interior Tamil Nadu and Kerala during next two days,” said the Met department’s bulletin.

The Met department will take into account the actual rainfall during June-September to determine the extent of monsoon deficiency this year. On Sunday,the cumulative deficiency stood at 8% of the Long Period Average (LPA),which is calculated on the basis of the average rainfall received during 1951-2000.

As per the latest data,the country received 816 mm rain against an average of 883 mm.  More than 67% of the country has got normal or excess rain till now.

Key rain-deficient regions include Gujarat (-28%),Saurashtra and Kutch (-34%),madhya Maharashtra (-25%),Marathwada (- 33%),western Uttar Pradesh (-28%),Punjab (-46%),Haryana (-39%),northern Karnataka (-35%) and southern Karnataka (-24%) and Kerala (-24%)

Aafter a rather sluggish start in June,the monsoon intensified in July,leading to a decline in the severity of drought-like conditions. India had faced widespread drought in 2009 when monsoon was 22% below average.

Monsoon is crucial for Indian agriculture as only 40% of the cultivable area is covered by irrigation. The monsoon plays a critical role in determining the performance of many summer or kharif crops,which contribute more than half of the country’s food production and include the likes of paddy,pulses,oilseeds and sugarcane.

As per the data released last week by the agriculture ministry,rice has been sown in more than 36.7 million hectare till now against a normal sowing area of 36.1 mh. With the revival in kharif sowing,initial apprehensions about a lower rice output because of patchy monsoon in June and July have largely been allayed.

In case of coarse cereals,sowing has been completed in 17.5 million hectare against the normal coverage of 20.8 mh. Pulses’ coverage has been in excess of 10.1 mh against a normal coverage of 10.6 mh.