June driest in 50 yrs; agricultural activities in northern India hit
Heavy monsoon rain continued to lash Mumbai and its neighbouring areas for the third consecutive day on Sunday, while the northern parts of India, including Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, are in the grip of hot and humid weather conditions. Most of the north India witnessed temperature over 40 degrees Celsius on Sunday and this year June has become the India’s third driest month in the past 50 years. The situation is expected to remain the same in the next few days.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday predicted a low pressure area over northeast Bay of Bengal which may intensify into a depression by July 2, and may move westward into central and adjoining western India in due course. According to the MeT department, the all-India average rainfall in June so far has been 112.5 mm against the normal of 166.9 mm, a deficiency of 33 per cent till June 30. As many as 29 of the 36 sub-divisions across the country have recorded deficient rainfall and this has impacted sowing by farmers in the current kharif season, which has been over 25 per cent below the normal levels till date.
“Parts of north India like Delhi, Punjab and Haryana may not benefit due to this low pressure area and it is unlikely that these States will get rainfall because of it,” IMD’s Additional Director-General Mrutyunjay Mahapatra said. Private weather forecaster Skymet’s Managing Director Jatin Singh said monsoon surge is expected from June 30 to July 15 with a short break in between.
The MeT Department said that many places in Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi and east Madhya Pradesh witnessed hot and humid conditions which are expected to persist for the next few days.
Of the 686 districts, 315 have recorded deficient rainfall; 175 large deficient and 129 normal rainfall.
As per data, June had received only 85.7 mm rainfall in 2009 while the year 2014 witnessed only 95.4 mm rainfall in June.
The east and north-east India division comprises the northeastern States and eastern States of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, and all have registered deficient rainfall.
Of the 10 subdivisions of central India, which covers States like Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, eight received deficient rainfall.
Of 10 divisions in the south peninsula division, covering the five States of south India and Union territories of Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, eight received deficient rainfall.
Only five subdivisions — Konkan and Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, north interior Karnataka, east Rajasthan and Gujarat — have recorded normal rainfall. The official monsoon season in the country starts on June 1 and ends on September 30.
According to the Agriculture Ministry’s data, the total area planted under all crops during kharif season has been 146.61 lakh hectares as against last year’s 162.07 lakh hectares and the normal five-year-average of 196.66 lakh hectares for the same period. Pulses have taken the maximum hit, with a mere 3.42 lakh hectares being planted. It was 8.86 and 18.18 lakh hectares during this time in 2018 and 2017, respectively.
All major kharif pulses have reported huge declines: arhar or pigeon-pea (0.84 lh versus 3.69 lakh and 5.82 lakh for the preceding two years), urad or black gram (0.62 lakh hectare versus 1.05 lakh hectare and 2 lh) and moong or green gram (1.04 lakh hectare versus 2.75 lakh hectare and 6.58 lakh hectare). While the area under rice was 27.09 lakh hectare - more or less similar to that in the same period last year - oilseeds planting fell marginally to 13.43 lakh hectare as against 14.08 lakh hectare in the same week in 2018-19. Oilseeds and coarse cereals, too, have registered significant shortfalls relative to their normal acreages for June. The impact of delayed sowing on final harvest will only be known once the monsoon settles in and the crop reaches maturity stage.