Indian monsoon a skosh late to annual party

India’s monsoon rains have finally arrived, touching down on the coast of India’s southern Kerala state on 7 June, a week later than normal, marking its latest arrival since 2019. The annual monsoon is considered the driving force and energy of the Indian economy, delivering rains essential to agricultural production and replenishing water reservoirs that provide vital drinking water and support power generation. Almost half of India’s farmland depends heavily on the June to September rains, which generally account for about three-quarters of the country’s agricultural production requirement. The monsoon is not only essential to non-irrigated Kharif crop production such as rice, cotton, corn, soybeans and sorghum; it also sets the soil moisture scene for the Rabi crops such as wheat, barley and many pulses which are sown after the monsoon has receded. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) was originally expecting the monsoon to hit the southwest coastline on June 4, but the ...