Pre-monsoon rainfall above normal this year

NEW DELHI: In the pre-monsoon season, India has received above-normal rainfall. Significant parts of the country received excess to large excess rainfall, showing the impact of climate change. Eastern and north-eastern India, however, registered a deficit. According to scientists, the deficit in eastern India is due to high aerosol concentration in Gangetic plains.

The country received above-normal rainfall by 12% between March 1 and May 29. Of four homogenous regions in the country, only east and eastern India had deficit rainfall in this pre-monsoon period whereas the other three regions received excess rainfall.

Thirteen major states across northern, central and southern India received large excess rainfall. Gujarat received 863% of rain than normal, followed by Madhya Pradesh (348%), Rajasthan(304%), Chhattisgarh (204%), Maharashtra(161%), Uttar Pradesh(128%), Haryana(127%), Punjab(120%).

These states are major producers of cash crops such as cotton, groundnut, and soybean and food crops such as rice, maize and pulses. Scientists say the above-normal rainfall will help farmers in preparing land for kharif cash crops. 

“Farmers will be at an advantage in these states as they can skip a round of irrigation in preparing land for their cash crops,” N Chattopadhyay, agri-meteorologist at Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
Erratic weather acted as truant in most of the northeastern states and eastern states. There is a deficit of -35% rainfall in this region.

“We noticed that the frequency of heavy rainfall is decreasing in the eastern parts of the country, especially the north-eastern parts, Bihar and Jharkhand,” says Dr Mrutunjoy Mohapatra, Director General Meteorology, IMD.

However, there is an increasing trend in the central part such as Gujarat, Odisha and the northern peninsula, he added.