In what could be bad news for farmers in Thanjavur, Sivaganga, Madurai, Erode, Karur, Tirupur and Nagapattinam districts, the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University has predicted below normal rainfall in these areas during South West Monsoon season this year.
The TNAU has predicted that these seven districts would receive less than 80 per cent of the long term mean seasonal rainfall in the coming South West Monsoon season.
The Agro Climate Research Centre functioning at the TNAU has developed seasonal rainfall forecast of the south west monsoon for 32 districts based on the Southern Oscillation Index and Sea Surface Temperature values using Australian Rainman International 4.2.
The historical rainfall data collected from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Research Stations were used to represent the district information. In the absence of research station in a particular district, data from Rainman software was used, TNAU said in a release.
In Virudhunagar and Thoothukudi districts, TNAU predicted above normal rainfall (over than 110 per cent of the long term mean seasonal rainfall) during the 2013 South West Monsoon season.
Normal rainfall (91 to 110 per cent of the long term mean seasonal rainfall) is expected in Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Dindugul, Kancheepuram, Krishnagiri, Namakkal, Tiruvallur, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Tiruvarur, Tiruchy, Villupuram and Salem districts.
Near normal rainfall (81 to 90 per cent of the long term mean seasonal rainfall) is expected in Coimbatore, Kanyakumari, Chennai, Dharmapuri, Perambalur, Pudukkottai, Ramanathapuram, Theni and Tirunelveli districts.
In addition to that, the forecast was also developed for hilly regions and high rainfall zones separately.
In hilly areas like the Nilgiris and Dindigul districts normal rainfall is expected and, in the high rainfall zone of Kanyakumari district, near normal rainfall is expected.