INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: The southwest monsoon covered the entire country on Sunday, six days before its normal date of July 8, the IMD said
This year, it took 25 days to cover the entire country since its delayed onset on June 8.Monsoon's onset normally happens on June 1 and it
covers the entire country in 38 days (by July 8)
Last year, too, the monsoon had covered the country by July 2
This is the 13th time in the past 25 years that the monsoon had entered the whole of India ahead of time.Early coverage of monsoon to affect
kharif cropsThe monsoon covered the whole of India on Sunday, the third time in the past 24 years that the rain-bearing system had completed
its advance over the country on July 2, as per IMD officials
The normal date for the monsoon setting in over the entire country is July 8.As per IMD records, the earliest coverage of monsoon winds over
the entire country happened on June 16, 2013 - the day a major disaster struck Kedarnath and other places in Uttarakhand due to cloudbursts
Early or delayed onset or coverage of monsoon has nothing to do with quantitative and spatial distribution of rainfall
It, however, affects farming operations of kharif (summer sown) crops such as paddy, sugarcane, coarse cereals and cotton.For instance,
delayed monsoon and its subsequent slow progress this year hit sowing operations during the first three weeks of June
The monsoon's rapid progress thereafter, leading to over 90% coverage of the country by early last week, speeded up sowing operations
Data on sown area shows the acreage of kharif crops reached 203 lakh hectares on June 30 - one lakh hectare over the acreage in the
corresponding period last year
The deficit was six lakh hectares on June 23 due to the monsoon's delayed onset and slow progress.01:47Gujarat: Heavy rain lashes Tapi
district, waterlogging reported from several locations
