NEW DELHI : The southwest monsoon, which irrigates more than half of India’s agricultural land, is likely to make a delayed onset this year, arriving over the Kerala coast on 5 June, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday.
The forecast carries a model error of +/-4 days, according to the weather office. The normal onset date for the June-September rainy season is 1 June.
The government is banking on a normal monsoon season to boost farm output and revive the economy as manufacturing and services have been ravaged by the coronavirus-induced nationwide lockdown.
A delayed onset of the monsoon can impede sowing and affect production of crops such as rice, cotton and sugarcane. Last year too, the monsoon started late over