El Nino Effect? Met department expects rains to hit India on June 5

Delayed by almost a week, the season’s first rains is expected to hit Kerala in the next five days, weather officials said. According to an ET report, monsoon was expected to arrive on June 1.

The annual monsoon season is crucial for India as half of its cropland is deficient in irrigation. It should be noted that the agricultural sector comprises 15% of India’s $2 trillion economy.

"We hope conditions will become favourable for the monsoon onset over the Kerala coast on around June 5," said B P Yadav, director of the India Meteorological Department ( IMD) in the report.

It should be noted that the country is expected to experience El Nino effect on monsoon for second consecutive year. The report also suggested that the weather officials had forecasted that the monsoon would arrive on May 30. Last year, the rains arrived on June 6, thus adversely impacting the farm production for the year.

Interestingly, the government has now put a contingency plan in place for nearly 580 districts to meet any exigencies that may arise due to delay in rains.

"Contingency plans contain specific advisory to meet delay or deficiency in rains," said K.K. Singh, head of the agro-met division of the weather office in the report.