A detailed reviewing of monsoon patterns is going on since the past few months by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Based on the review, IMD has announced that it would introduce new dates for the normal onset and withdrawal of the south-west monsoon. IMD is planning to disclose the information regarding the monsoon season in April 2020.
Elaborating more about the upcoming report on the monsoon patterns, M. Rajeevan, Secretary of Ministry of Earth Sciences, said, " The report is almost ready. We will be implementing the changes from this monsoon season, starting from June. While there would be no change in the normal date of arrival over Kerala, the dates when monsoon would be likely to reach different parts of the country could change. We will announce the new dates meteorological station-wise."
The announcement of the onset and withdrawal of the monsoon will be quite lucrative for the farmers as it will help them plan their sowing accordingly.
As of now, we can expect some subtle changes in the onset dates with a tentative delay of few days while major changes are likely to emerge in the withdrawal dates. The core monsoon region, i.e. Central India, might observe maximum changes. From the past few years, it has been observed that the south-west monsoon is consistently arriving late and taking longer withdrawal time in many parts of India.
The south-west monsoon provides 75% of the annual rainfall in India and is considered as a big source of irrigation for farmers (it irrigates around 50% of the agricultural land in India). Therefore, these changes in the monsoon arrival and withdrawal will largely affect the agricultural activities across the country. With the late withdrawal of rains, the harvesting of Kharif crops like rice is likely to get delayed.
“The most important aspect is withdrawal, especially for north-east India. It’s going to get delayed by almost ten days. Though the total monsoon period may still be the same, farmers would have to change their sowing strategy according to the new dates," added Rajeevan.
