By Paul Homewood
All India Rainfall 2019
http://mol.tropmet.res.in/all-india-daily-rainfall/
India’s monsoon season has now officially ended, with rainfall totals 10% above normal. This has counteracted a run of below average years, largely El Nino related.
Long term trends however show that runs of drought years such as this one are perfectly usual. Also that there have been many years with rainfall totals higher than this monsoon.
http://mol.tropmet.res.in/monsoon-interannual-timeseries/
According to the Guardian, this must be unadulterated bad news:
However, for the Indians themselves, it is all excellent news:
The Modi government has finally seen its first good monsoon. 2019 is possible the best monsoon year since 1994. What is more, the September rains have broken the record of the last 102 years, drenching most parts, especially central India. It has taken every forecaster by surprise. We at Skymet had assessed September to be the best month of this monsoon, with rains at 102% of LPA. But the actual number has been 153%, the highest since 1917.
Equally heartening is the fact that the spatial distribution of rainfall has been good this year. Perennially water-stared Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have, in particular, received excellent rains. With water levels in India’s 113 major reservoirs also at nearly 87% of their live storage capacities – as against the last 10-years’ average for this time – the Modi government can take comfort from a great start in its second innings. The excess rainfall, especially in September, would help in the accumulation of residual moisture in the soil that will prove beneficial for the coming rabi winter-spring crop. The replenishment of the water table and aquifers may even see us through till the next monsoon.
Cotton output in India, the world’s biggest producer, is set to surge after the heaviest monsoon rain in a quarter century, adding to global supply at a time when prices are near their weakest in more than three years. The crop may reach at least 36.5 million bales of 170 kilograms each (375 pounds) in the year that started Oct. 1, said Vinay N. Kotak, director at brokers Kotak Commodity Services in Mumbai. That’s more than 15% higher than output a year earlier, according to estimates from the Cotton Association of India.
India has just enjoyed its best monsoon in 25 years. In Gujarat, the top producing state, rainfall was more than 40% higher than the long-term average from June to September, while in Maharashtra, the second-largest, rain was 30% above normal. Planted area also increased to 12.77 million hectares from 12.1 million a year earlier, farm ministry data show as of Sept. 27.
The reality is that a good monsoon is not only good for farming, but helps to boost the whole economy. Something that the Guardian does not seem to appreciate.
via NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
October 6, 2019 at 06:06AM
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