Monsoon rain made its latest appearance in four years on Thursday, giving relief to farmers in India's southernmost state of Kerala after a delay of over a week.
Almost seventy percent of the rain required to irrigate India's agriculture and refuel reservoirs and aquifers is brought in by the monsoon, the engine that drives the $3 trillion Indian economy. Additionally, it protects from the most severe forms of heat.
The cultivation of rice, cotton, corn, soybeans, and sugar cane could be delayed if the June-September rains arrive late, according to traders, as about half of India's cropland is dependent on them in the absence of irrigation infrastructure.
"Southwest Monsoon has set in over Kerala today, the 8th June 2023, against the normal date of 1st June," the state’s India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a statement.
The formation of the violent cyclonic storm Biparjoy in the Arabian Sea caused this year's rains to start later than the IMD predicted on June 4.
The cyclone will gradually increase over the next 18 hours, with gusts up to 170 km/h, and track roughly northwestward over the following three days, according to an IMD statement on Thursday.
The Arabian Sea's central and northern fishing regions should be avoided until June 14, and fishermen have been instructed to head back to the shore.
The IMD has determined that the monsoon has officially started after analyzing rainfall data collected at weather stations in the southern state of Kerala and westerly wind velocities.
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