Early monsoon is a farmer's delight

The monsoon season seems to have kicked in earlier than expected, which should signal good news for the agricultural sector.

The Southwest monsoon winds have advanced into Kerala, and have further advanced into Tamil Nadu, coastal & south interior Karnataka, Goa, southern parts of Andhra Pradesh, sub-Himalyan West Bengal, and Sikkim.

The heavy downpour of last week saw the actual rainfall to be around 34.4 millimetres, which was about 105% higher than the actual quantum of rainfall expected for the week ending 31 May. Unlike the previous two weeks, the western region saw the highest quantum of rainfall, with Maharashtra seeing the bulk.

However, most parts of Gujarat and western Rajasthan remained dry. Furthermore, there was fairly widespread light to moderate rainfall over Lakshadweep, Kerala, and coastal Karnataka, and there were isolated spells of rainfall over most of the North-eastern states, and there were patches of scattered rainfall that occurred over Andaman & Nicobar islands, West Bengal, and Sikkim.

More than 70% of the meteorological sub-divisions saw excess to normal amounts of rainfall, while the remaining meteorological sub-divisions saw deficient to scanty amount of rainfall as on week ending 31 May.

Despite the heavy rainfall, the water stock level at the 76 major reservoirs fell by 1.85bn cubic meter to 30.09 BCM, down from previous weeks level of 31.85 BCM.

Most rabi crops have continued their good performance recording a 28.76 lakh hectare increase in their area under coverage from the previous year. On the states front, Assam, AP, Chhatisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh are the only states that have seen a decline in their area under coverage in the current rabi season.

It is worth noting that prices for most agricultural products have been on the rise, with primary articles inflation recently increasing by 6.1% over the previous year’s level.

According to the IMD, the Southwest monsoon winds should further advance into Gujarat, and there are also indication towards a possible low pressure area developing over the north of Bay of Bengal.

ET INTELLIGENCE GROUP