Beachgoers hold an umbrella as it drizzles at the Fort Kochi beach in Kochi yesterday.
Reuters/New Delhi
Monsoon rains reached southern coast a few days later than usual yesterday, offering relief to farmers eagerly waiting for the start of the wet season that is crucial for their summer crops.
But the slight delay in the monsoon’s onset is unlikely to have a major impact on sowing of rice, pulses and cotton that has started in many growing areas of northwest and southern India, taking advantage of pre-monsoon showers.
The formation of a possible El Nino weather phenomenon, which can cause drought in south Asia, is only expected to have an impact later in the four-month rainy season. “We don’t foresee any El Nino impact in the first month of the monsoon season,” said B P Yadav, head of the national weather forecasting centre at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in New Delhi.
Last month, the IMD forecast a patchy monsoon season with a high chance of El Nino. Weather officials yesterday confirmed the monsoon’s onset - a decision that takes into account rainfall measured at weather stations in Kerala and westerly wind speeds.
Rainfall was around 40% below average across India in the first week of the season.
Progress northwards of the annual rains is expected to be slow and they are unlikely to cover half the nation by the first half of June.
Farmers have heeded the advice issued by the newly-elected government to sow crops early this year to take advantage of pre-monsoon showers. They were also advised to use short duration seeds of cotton, pulses, corn and soybeans.
In 2013 the monsoon hit Kerala on June 1, two days ahead of the official forecast and in line with the long-term average. The season brought above-average rainfall across the country, resulting in a record grain harvest.
