MUMBAI, 27 Jun (Commoditiescontrol): Almost overcoming earlier delay, India's South-East monsoon has covered over three-fourths of the country and is expected to blanket the entire nation on time for the critical planting season, according to media report two senior weather officials on Thursday.
The summer rains, essential for the economic growth of Asia's third-largest economy, typically begin in the south around June 1 and spread nationwide by July 8. This timing allows farmers to plant key crops such as rice, cotton, soybeans, and sugarcane.
"Monsoon is advancing quickly in northern India and will cover the entire country on time," said an official from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), speaking anonymously as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
On Thursday, the southwest monsoon advanced further, covering more areas of Rajasthan, most of Madhya Pradesh, additional parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and nearly all of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, according to an IMD statement.
Since June 1, India has received 19% less rainfall, IMD data shows, due to the monsoon's earlier stalling. This has resulted in shortfalls across almost the entire country, except for a few southern states, with parts of the northwest experiencing heatwaves.
The monsoon, which provides nearly 70% of the rain needed to water farms and replenish reservoirs and aquifers, is crucial for the nearly $3.5-trillion economy. Nearly half of India's farmland, without irrigation, relies on these annual rains from June to September.
Rainfall is expected to increase, with most parts of the country receiving significant precipitation over the next two weeks, accelerating the planting of summer-sown crops, another weather official said. The current rainfall deficit is anticipated to narrow significantly by mid-July.
(By Commoditiescontrol Bureau; +91 98201 30172)
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