Trade and market players have already started factoring in at least 10 million tonnes drop in production in rice in the kharif season as compared to last year due to delayed sowing.
In Uttar Pradesh, southwest monsoon has been normal so far where rains and thundershowers occurred in few places since Friday.
Kerala Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan made the announcement in the assembly while replying to a notice seeking adjournment motion moved by Congress-led UDF opposition on the serious situation prevailing in the state due to the sharp decrease in rainfall.
The crop is currently trading at Rs 22 a kg compared to Rs 12.50 one month ago.
Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and its suburbs on Wednesday, causing flooding on roads and rail tracks and disrupting suburban train services as the south-west monsoon arrived in the city.
Rediff readers shared their best monsoon memories.
The suburban areas received around 20 mm rainfall in just three hours starting 8.30 am, an official at the India Meteorological Department's centre in Mumbai said.
'Due to severe rains and heavy cross winds, arrivals at #AAI Chennai Airport will remain suspended from 1315 hrs to 1800 hrs, today. Departures will continue. The decision has been taken considering the safety aspect of passengers and severity of wind,' the Chennai Airport tweeted.
Pack your bags. Umbrellas and raincoats optional.
A 6-7 million tonnes shortfall in rice production due to a fall in paddy sowing area is likely to keep rice prices at elevated levels, adding to the inflationary pressure that the slowing economy is already grappling with. Elevated food prices, including that of cereals, had led to retail inflation reversing a three-month declining trend, to touch 7 per cent in August. Similarly, the wholesale price inflation, which declined to 11-month low, also showed price pressures from cereals resulting from wheat output being impacted by severe heat waves in some parts of the country.
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The government on Monday ruled out making public the RBI report detailing the reasons why the central bank could not keep inflation within the targeted 6 per cent upper limit for the three consecutive quarters. "Yes sir, RBI has furnished a report to the central government, as mandated under Section 45ZN of the RBI Act, 1934 and Regulation 7 of RBI Monetary Policy Committee and Monetary Policy process Regulations, 2016," minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply. The said provisions of the RBI Act, 1934, and regulations therein does not provide for making the report public, he said.
Swirling waters inundated 12 districts in the state.
Monsoon in Mumbai is likely to get stronger and the city may experience heavy rainfall over the next 48 hours, a senior MeT official said on Thursday.
"This warming trend is alarming," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
Heavy rains in Mumbai caused major water logging in areas like Lower Parel on Saturday, leaving residents and commuters stranded, and causing a huge traffic gridlock.
With economic growth slowing to a six-year low, IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath says the government should undertake structural reforms such as bank clean-up and labour reforms to address the slowdown in domestic demand. She rooted for government policies focusing on managing a slowdown in domestic demand, and on boosting productivity growth and supporting employment creation in the medium term.
'As the Indian economy continues to expand over the next three years, mid- and small-caps should do well as they have higher exposure to the domestic economy than large-caps.'
However, flight operations at the Mumbai airport were not impacted due to rains, an airport official said.
Worse still, the cities ranked second, third and fourth for their poor air quality are also in India.
Officials in the weather department said the monsoon is expected to be below normal because of the El-Nino effect.
A fresh spell of heatwave is likely to begin over northwest India from May 7 and over central India from May 8, the India meteorological department said on Thursday.
Intense showers battered Chennai and other northern regions of Tamil Nadu on Thursday while the depression over Bay of Bengal crossed the coast by evening.
Increase in kharif sowing area, good monsoon, rural cash flows and base effect among factors that have driven volumes.
If only you had thought ahead, you would have stocked snacks and biscuits, bread and cake, and vegetables suited for Amma or pondatti to make your favourite bajji and pakoda, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Surface temperatures have increased rapidly during the past century, leading to an increase in the frequency and intensity of tropical storms in the Arabian Sea, reports Sanjeeb Mukherjee.
In Gujarat, of the 12.5 million hectare of area under cultivation, while six million is dependent on rainfall, two million is covered by groundwater, a bulk of which is said to be in north Gujarat. Scanty rainfall in the last one and half years has not only depleted groundwater level but also affected dams.
Between 8.30 am and 11 am, the IMD's Colaba observatory (representative of south Mumbai) recorded 79.4 mm rainfall, while the Santacruz observatory (representative of suburbs) recorded 44.5 mm rain, she said.
Sowing of kharif crops begins with the onset of southwest monsoon from June, while harvesting starts from October. Rice is the main kharif crop, besides bajra, arhar, urad, moong, groundnut and soyabean.
The Manali-Leh National Highway-3 was blocked after heavy rainfall triggered landslide in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district on Friday.
After a delayed start, the monsoon is advancing steadily.
The metropolis has received heavy rains in the last 24 hours.
In many parts of central and north India, monsoon reaches only in July.
Simultaneous activation of both Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal low-pressure systems has led to the state receiving an excess 65 per cent rainfall.
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With about 40 per cent deficit rainfall during the monsoon season in parts of the state and shrinkage in sowing area, the Andhra Pradesh government has directed the Tirumala Tirupati Devastanam to "perform Yagnas" in temples to propitiate the rain God.
The rains in August have also led to speculation that if the trend continues, rains in September, the terminal month of the four-month monsoon season, could be better, thus aiding production of paddy and other kharif crops.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD), for the first time, officially hinted at a drought-like situation, saying the southwest monsoon over India in 2012 is likely to be deficient at below 90 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA).
The festival season has already begun in the west and south of India with Ganesh Chaturthi and Onam, respectively, and consumer companies are witnessing a pick-up in sales compared to pre-Covid levels. Retailers, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and consumer durables companies expect their sales to grow in double digits this festival season compared to pre-pandemic times, as there are no curbs on movement now. Adani Wilmar expects sales volume to be higher by 15-20 per cent as rural India has largely witnessed good monsoon rains, and employment has picked up in urban areas.
The disaster management department said that the state government has urged the Indian Air Force to send a helicopter for air-dropping of food packets and other relief material in marooned areas.
