Heavy rainfall likely over Northwest India from Wednesday, says IMD

Northwest India is likely to witness an increase in rainfall activity with isolated heavy to very heavy falls from 25 June. Additionally, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in its latest update said heavy to very heavy rainfall activity is likely to continue over many parts of central, east, and northeast India during the next seven days.

The matter assumes significance as early monsoon and widespread rain across the country are likely to increase the area under kharif crops.

Extremely heavy rainfall (>20 cm/24 hours) is likely at isolated places over West Madhya Pradesh on 23-24 June. Also, very heavy rainfall is likely over east Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Konkan, Arunachal Pradesh, Vidarbha, Jharkhand, Odisha, Haryana, Punjab, West Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad during 23-27 June.

IMD, in a statement, said that conditions are favourable for the Southwest monsoon to advance further over the remaining parts of the North Arabian Sea, some more parts of Rajasthan and Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi, and the remaining parts of West Uttar Pradesh and Jammu during the next two days.'

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For West India, it predicted isolated heavy rainfall likely over Konkan and Goa, Madhya Maharashtra and Gujarat state during 23-28 June, with very heavy rainfall over Konkan and Gujarat on 23-24 June. Also, light to moderate rainfall is likely over Gujarat, Konkan, Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, and Marathawada from 23-29 June.

The widespread rain and early monsoon have increased the kharif area, with the total sown area reaching 137.84 lakh hectares as of 20 June, an increase of 12.97 lakh hectares compared to the same period last year, according to data released by the agriculture ministry.

The increase in cultivated area is largely driven by higher acreage in rice, pulses, and coarse cereals, according to the latest data.

Paddy area

The area under paddy, the most important kharif crop, was over 58% at 13.22 lakh hectares, sowing of pulses (42%) and coarse cereals (22%) saw sharp spikes because of good rains and on the anticipation of above-normal monsoon as predicted by IMD. The kharif season, also known as the monsoon season, typically runs from the last week of May to September. Kharif crops account for around 60% of India’s total crop production and include paddy, maize, soybean, tur, and cotton—all heavily reliant on monsoon rainfall.

According to the data, rice cultivation has seen a significant rise, with 13.22 lakh hectares already covered by 20 June compared to 8.37 lakh hectares during the corresponding period last year.

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Pulses are also experiencing healthy growth in sowing, as the area under cultivation reached 9.44 lakh hectares, an increase of 42%. In pulses, moong and urad have shown an increase in acreage, while arhar has declined slightly compared to last year. However, the area under cultivation for oilseeds is slightly low. Oilseeds sowing has covered 5.38 lakh hectares, which is slightly lower than 5.49 lakh hectares last year. Also, cotton and sugarcane areas increased.

The increase in the kharif area clearly shows that farmers are bullish on monsoon prospects. The increase in area also dispels fears of a spurt in food inflation. The Union government has just concluded a massive outreach campaign, Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan, a countrywide initiative running from 29 May to 12 June across all states and Union territories. The campaign aimed at equipping farmers with information, tools, and technology for the kharif sowing season.

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