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, covers much of central and western India between June 5 and 15, and enters North India from July 1. It is crucial to rice, wheat, sugarcane and oilseeds cultivation in the country, where farming accounts for about 15 per cent of the economy and employs over half of its people.