Weak monsoon in July may hit cotton, soybean, maize sowing, says Skymet

The monsoon is likely to remain weak for three more days but it is expected to revive from July 18 onwards, said Skymet.  “We will come out of this weak monsoon conditions as the system is coming up but then it is not a huge, very well marked system. It may not cause any deluge as such in those days also," said GP Sharma, president-metrology and climate change at Skymet.

When asked about the dry spell in July, he further added, “Last three days or so, we are already into that. The distribution of rains remains a matter of concern. Next few days we will see this deficiency further going up.”

“The second half of July is going to be much lower than what we have in the first half of July,” said Sharma.

“We had advised delaying the sowing looking at the monsoon range in the month of June and later also we advised that first half of July is going to be good, we can go ahead with that and I think the sowing operations picked up quite a bit. However, as compared to what we had last year, we are far behind as of now,” he further mentioned.

”Coming days, I don’t expect it to be bountiful rain over most parts of the country, where they needed most. There is a shortfall as compared to last year and yes, there is a deficiency,” Sharma said.

The monsoon is expected to be weak across India over the next two weeks and it may hit cotton, soybean, maize sowing, said Skymet.