India to get normal monsoon, says IMD as country battles coronavirus

Monsoon is crucial to rice, wheat, sugarcane and oilseeds cultivation in the country, where farming accounts for about 15% of the economy and employs over half of its people

India is likely to have a normal monsoon this year, the country’s weather department said on Wednesday giving the country’s coronavirus-battered economy some good news.

Monsoon rains are expected to be 100 per cent of a long-term average, M. Rajeevan, secretary at the Ministry of Earth Sciences told a news conference, according to news agency Reuters. 

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) defines average, or normal, rainfall as between 96 per cent and 104 per cent of a 50-year average of 88 centimetres for the entire four-month season beginning June.

Monsoon enters Kerala coast on June 1,