Fresh rains forecast in April likely to affect Rabi crop: study bl-premium-article-image

Our Bureau Updated - March 22, 2015 at 03:39 PM.

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India might get normal monsoon rainfall at 102 per cent of long-period average during June-September this year, says a just concluded study by industry chamber ASSOCHAM and Skymet Weather.

However some pockets might be deficient (by a narrow margin), such as in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Marathwada, Rayalseema, South Interior Karnataka, North Tamil Nadu and parts of the North East,” said the study titled ‘Monsoon 2015: Agri-business Risk or Opportunity,’ by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) and weather forecasting company, Skymet.

D.S. Rawat, secretary general of the chamber said “Forecast of normal Monsoon this year seems well distributed uniformly throughout the country.” 

Jatin Singh, CEO, Skymet, said: “Chance of a back-to-back drought is 3 per cent (2014 was a mild meteorological drought), besides there is still no clear signal about the emergence of an Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) this year during monsoon.”

The study said more damage to Rabi crop was likely as more rainfall was in the offing in April in North India.

Published on March 22, 2015 10:09