NEW DELHI: Southwest (summer)
monsoon
covered the entire country on Tuesday, six days before its normal date, said the
India Meteorological Department
on Tuesday. It’s the third consecutive year in which the monsoon covered the entire country by July 2.
The onset of monsoon over Kerala and most parts of northeast happened simultaneously on May 30 ahead of its normal date of June 1 and June 5, respectively.
It covered the entire country in 34 days despite its sluggish progress during June 10-18. Normally, monsoon covers the entire India in 38 days (June 1-July 8).
Early/delayed onset or early/delayed coverage, however, doesn’t impact quantitative or spatial aspects of rainfall during the four-month monsoon season. It, however, guides the progress of kharif (summer sown crops such as paddy, sugarcane, coarse cereals and cotton) sowing operations and choice of crops as farmers have to take a call on the basis of the irrigation cycle a crop may need.
IMD
records show that this is the seventh time in the past 12 years and 14th time in the past 25 years that the monsoon covered the entire country ahead of time, with the earliest one being recorded in 2013 when it did so as early as June 16 — the day country witnessed a major disaster in Kedarnath (Uttarakhand) due to cloudburst and flash floods.
Monsoon normally starts retreating from northwest India around Sept 17 and fully withdraws by Oct 15. Besides farming activities,
water and hydro-power management also depends on the onset, coverage and withdrawal of monsoon.
Though June recorded nearly 11% deficit rainfall in the country, it did not affect the overall acreage last month due to adequate pace of sowing operations in peninsular India which reported over 14% more than normal rainfall in the month.
Agriculture ministry data shows that the overall acreage of all kharif crops put together in the country as on June 28 was 240 lakh hectares which was 59 lakh hectares more than the acreage during the corresponding period last year. It happened due to higher acreage of the less water consuming crops — pulses and oilseeds — last month.
