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MUMBAI: A monsoon in India is expected to bring below-average rainfall to the country’s western, central and southern regions over the next fortnight, threatening newly planted cotton, soybean, corn and pulse crops, two senior weather officials said.
The monsoon delivers about 70 per cent of India’s annual rains to replenish crucial water sources in the nearly $4 trillion economy, where nearly half of farmland lacks irrigation and about half the population earns its livelihood from agriculture.
Rainfall is expected to ease across most parts of India over the next fortnight, with the exception of some eastern and northern states, said a senior official with the India Meteorological Department, who declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak with media. “The rainfall deficit could be quite significant in western and southern states during this period,” he said.
India has received 12pc less rainfall than average so far this monsoon season, which began on June 1, with some states, including southern Andhra Pradesh, recording deficits of as much as 34pc.
