India monsoon reaches Kerala after longest delay in 7 years

Monsoon rain reached the coast of India's southernmost Kerala state on Thursday, offering relief to farmers after a delay of more than a week, marking its latest arrival in seven years.

The monsoon, the lifeblood of India's $3 trillion economy, delivers nearly 70 per cent of the rain needed to water its farms and recharge reservoirs and aquifers. It also brings relief from the worst of the hot weather.

In the absence of irrigation systems, nearly half of India's farmland depends on the June-September rains and their late arrival could delay the planting of rice, cotton, corn, soybean and sugar cane, traders said.

"Southwest Monsoon has set in over Kerala today, June, 8, 2023, against the normal date of June 1," the state-run India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a statement.

This year, the IMD had expected the rains to arrive over the state's coast on June 4 but the formation of severe cyclonic storm Biparjoy in the Arabian Sea delayed their onset.

The IMD confirms the monsoon has begun after taking into account rainfall measured at weather stations in the southern state of Kerala and westerly wind speeds.

In the past, India has experienced below-average rainfall during most El Nino years, sometimes leading to severe droughts that destroyed crops and forced authorities to limit the export of some grains.