Heavy September rains guarantee regular monsoon for third straight 12 months

India’s 2021 monsoon season formally got here to an finish on Thursday, marking a 3rd consecutive 12 months of regular summer season rains and setting the stage for an additional 12 months of record-high kharif crop manufacturing. Sturdy precipitation in September virtually made up for the patchy efficiency in finish July and most of August, the official forecaster stated.

The monsoon rainfall could persist for some extra time in October because the moisture-laden winds proceed to blow throughout the nation. Whole rainfall over the essential June-September season was 0.7% under the long-period common of 88 centimetres, as per information from the IMD.

A deviation of 4% from the long-period common is taken into account regular.

The federal government expects a file foodgrain manufacturing of 150.50 million tonnes within the kharif season, 12.71 million tonnes greater than the typical foodgrain manufacturing of the earlier 5 years (2015-16 to 2019-20).

As per the primary advance estimates launched by the agriculture ministry final week, 23.39 million tonnes of oilseeds, 36.22 million cotton bales (of 170 kg every), 9.61 million bales (of 180 kg every) of jute and mesta, and 419.25 million tonnes of sugarcane manufacturing are anticipated this season.

Delayed withdrawal

This 12 months’s monsoon withdrawal is shaping as much as be the second most delayed on file, IMD stated. Already two weeks previous their regular withdrawal date, they’ll solely start their retreat from mainland India by October 6, it stated. “We now have solely seen robust September rainfall over the previous three years, which has led to delayed withdrawals,” stated Sivananda Pai, head of long-range forecasting at IMD.

Patchy distribution

Rainfall depth all through the four-month interval alternated between weak and robust phases. Whereas June noticed monsoon winds shifting at a fast tempo and masking three-fourths of the nation over the primary three weeks, July and August noticed traditionally low rainfall.