Monsoon: A boon or a curse

06-Sep-2025 11:14 AM

The southwest monsoon is playing a dual role for the Indian agriculture sector this year. On one hand, early arrival and good rains in the initial phase not only helped farmers to sow Kharif crops early and increase the area under various crops, but also improved the progress of crops,

but on the other hand, excessive rains in many areas of the country, especially during the month of August, have caused heavy damage to Kharif crops as well as life and property and are still causing it. Due to regular rains in various areas,

fields in a large area were submerged and crops were damaged due to floods in rivers. The actual damage to crops is being assessed and its picture may emerge after mid-September.

The Meteorological Department has already said that this year the country will receive more (surplus) rain than the normal average. The distribution of rain at the national level has been somewhat uneven, but overall there has been heavy rain in different parts of the country.

Where the rainfall is normal, monsoon is proving to be a boon for Kharif crops and its production is expected to increase tremendously, but in those areas where there is a serious threat of severe floods and waterlogging, monsoon is being considered a villain because there the crops have been destroyed to a large extent or are on the verge of being destroyed.

One special thing is that now there has been a change in the pattern of monsoon withdrawal. Earlier, the withdrawal of the South-West monsoon, which remains active in the four months from June to September, used to start from Rajasthan in the first week of September,

but now the official date of its departure has been fixed as 17 September. There is no sure guarantee of the departure journey of monsoon even by this date. If the rain continues even after mid-September,

then the scope of damage to Kharif crops can increase even more. In many areas, the preparation for harvesting of early sown Kharif crops and especially moong, urad, soybean and cotton etc. starts after mid-September.

These crops can be damaged by rain and especially their quality can be affected. Due to increase in sowing area, production of Kharif crops was expected to increase significantly but monsoon with surplus rain can dash that hope. Monsoon rains are still continuing in some areas.