Good showers

India's rain-fed agriculture crucially depends on monsoon rainfall during June and July

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The good news for agricultural operations during the kharif or summer season is that the southwest monsoon has rapidly advanced to cover the entire country nine days ahead of its normal schedule on July 8. The monsoon also had an early onset over Kerala eight days before its normal date of June 1. It subsequently stalled in the first half of June and revived in the second half with above normal rainfall for the month as a whole that was 109% of its long period average (LPA).

Good rainfall in the first month of the monsoon season marked a welcome break from the earlier three years which registered an overall deficiency in June. In July, too, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts above normal rainfall of 106% of the LPA, which augurs well for brisk sowing operations for crops like paddy, coarse cereals, pulses, and soya bean.