India’s monsoon rains were expected to blanket the country by the weekend, weather officials said, allowing farmers in northern states to start planting summer crops a week earlier than usual.
The monsoon, the lifeblood of India’s $3 trillion economy, delivers nearly 70% of the rain needed to water its farms and recharge its reservoirs and aquifers. It also brings relief from the worst of summer.
In a typical year, the rains usually lash the state of Kerala on India’s southwest coast from about June 1 and move north to cover the entire country by July 8.
This year, the formation of severe Cyclone Biparjoy in the Arabian Sea delayed the onset of monsoon rains and halted their progress, with only a third of the country covered by last week.
But rains resumed over the weekend and reached other parts of the country by Tuesday, apart from some areas in the northern states of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana, a senior India Meteorological Department (IMD) official told.
“By this weekend, the monsoon will cover the remaining parts as well,” he said.
A revival in rains over the past few days has reduced the rainfall deficit for the June-September season to 23% from 33% a week ago, IMD data showed.
Many northeastern, central and northern states are likely to experience heavy rainfall this week, which would reduce the deficit below 20%, a second IMD official said.
Planting of paddy, cotton, soybeans, pulses and other summer-sown crops has been delayed, but sowing will pick up from this week, said a senior government official who declined to be named.
The IMD has predicted average rainfall for the entire four-month period despite the formation of El Nino weather.
A strong El Nino, marked by warming sea levels in the Pacific Ocean, can cause severe drought in Southeast Asia, India and Australia.
The occurrence of El Nino weather patterns triggered drought in 2014 and 2015 for only the fourth time in more than a century, plunging many Indian farmers into poverty.
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