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Monsoon may advance towards MP: METIMD predicts normal monsoonMonsoon within normal range: Met DeptLess monsoon rains this year, says IMD

: India’s South West monsoon has remained largely subdued after entering the country before the due date. Till June 10, South West monsoon has been 39% below normal, with vast swathes of agricultural land in western Maharashtra, Marathwada, Vidharbha and central Madhya Pradesh still waiting for the first showers of this season. Sanjeeb Mukherjee analyses how a deficient monsoon could impact different crops.

Rice

Out of the total rice production of around 100 million tonnes annually, more than 84 million tonnes is produced during the Kharif season. Rice is grown in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Orissa. The South West monsoon is vital for rice cultivation as paddy needs good quantities of water during plant growing stage. However, the performance of southwest monsoon in 2009 over India’s main rice growing states has been dismal if monsoon rains do not revive over some part of India’s rice growing states, then annual production could drop substantially. Till June 10, southwest monsoon over Gangetic West Bengal has been 49% below normal, 55% below normal in Coastal Andhra Pradesh, 61% and 57% below normal in East and West Uttar Pradesh, 68% below normal in Punjab and 15% below normal in Orissa. Experts believe that if monsoon rains do not revive over some part of India’s rice growing states, then annual production could drop substantially.

Cotton

Cotton is one of the main cash crops grown in India during the kharif sowing season. Millions of farmers in mostly semi-arid areas of Marathwada, Vidharbha, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh grow cotton during the kharif season. However, the slow progress of southwest monsoon over the main cotton belt of Maharashtra and Gujarat could aggravate the miseries of the poor farmers in the region. Till June 10, rainfall in Madhya Maharashtra has been 42% below normal, in Marathwada, southwest monsoon has been 77% below normal, in Vidharbha monsoon rains have been 40% below normal, while Gujarat has not yet received its first monsoon showers yet. Farm experts believe that if cotton in not planted in the next 15 days, then it’s per hectare yield will go down by atleast 25%-30% with every single day delay.

Corn (Maize)