Skymet weather

Scanty rain in India raised the cost of food in the Emirates

New Delhi, Wednesday, August 8, Shoppers across the Emirates are in jittery over the less rainfall in India this monsoon which has led to rise in the price of Indian exported fruit and vegetable to the Emirates. Emirates are the biggest importer of edible products from India.

 

The products exported from India to the Emirates are Mangoes, green vegetables, potatoes, pulses, rice and onions. According to the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (ADEPA)  the UAE accounted for almost 62 percent of fresh Mango and 9.5 percent of total fresh onions exports from India in the financial year 2010-11.

 

In the Emirates, the government controls the price of essential commodities and retailers do not have the privilege to pass on the rising costs to consumers and during the month of Ramadan, retailers are bound to keep prices as low as possible. But, the prices of fruits and vegetables in a supermarket in the Emirates have soared up by 10 to 15 percent compared with the last two months. Scanty rain has led to the risk of drought marring agricultural industry in India. It has also added to rising food prices in the country as well as export market in the Emirates.

Showers likely to continue over MP and adjacent Gujarat, Rajasthan; rain to continue over Delhi, NCR

New Delhi, Wednesday, August 8, Showers over west Madhya Pradesh adjoining areas of Gujarat, Rajasthan and west Uttar Pradesh would continue in the next twenty four hours. Punjab Haryana, Uttarakhand, rest parts of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal will retain light to moderate rain during the next twenty four hours.

 

West Madhya Pradesh, east and north Gujarat, southwest Rajasthan would continue to receive moderate showers. A few places over these areas may also experience heavy rains as well. The areas expected to receive heavy rainfall can witness flash floods.

 

Rainfall activities over these areas continue as the cyclonic circulation persisting over north Madhya Pradesh has merged with the monsoon trough. So, the region is currently receiving moisture from the southwesterly winds from the Arabian Sea and the southeasterly winds from the Bay of Bengal resulting in increased rainfall activities.

 

The western end of the monsoon trough is quite close to the areas currently witnessing heavy to very heavy fall. The monsoon trough is passing through Anupgarh, Alwar, Daltonganj, Jamshedpur, Digha to the central east Bay of Bengal. Monsoon trough is essentially a region of intensified monsoon winds.

 

The cyclonic circulation is also making a splash in the northwest plains as it is interacting with a 'Western Disturbance prevailing over China. Light to moderate showers are expected over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and adjoining areas of Uttar Pradesh during the next twenty four hours.

 

The offshore trough along the west coast is extending from south coastal Maharashtra to Kerala coast. This seasonal trough is gaining in strength and will increase rainfall along the coast especially over coastal areas of Karnataka and Kerala. Heavy rain is expected at a few places over coastal Karnataka and Kerala in the next twenty four hours. Moderate rain is predicted over coastal areas of Maharashtra, Konkan and Goa.

 

In the southern Peninsula, rain would be subdued over coastal areas of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. Showers will also reduce over Vidarbha, Telangana and Royalseema as the southeasterly winds are blowing north of these regions. Tamil Nadu remains dry as there is not enough moisture in the southwesterly winds reaching here.

Protection from Dengue during monsoon

New Delhi, Tuesday, August 7, The rainy season is here again so as the threat of dengue fever. The disease has proved to be life threatening. But vaccines for the dengue virus are yet to be approved. So, prevention depends on control and protection from the bites of the mosquito that transmits it. Destructing the habitats of the mosquito is the primary method to control dengue from spreading. Here are a few ways to destroy the habitats of such mosquitoes.

  • Empty containers of water – Look to empty air coolers and other containers left out with rainwater
  • Add insecticides and biological control agents in water – Look to add them in water so that mosquitoes do not lay eggs on the surface of the water
  • Reduce open collections of water – Rainwater usually gets accumulated around us, we need to ensure that such open collection of water does not exist nearby
  • Prevent mosquito bites by wearing clothes that cover the skin fully – wearing clothes that covers our entire skin are preferable
  • Use mosquitoes netting – Mosquito nets are very useful when we go for a rest
  • Apply insect repellent creams – Using mosquitoes repellent cream before going the bed will help in preventing mosquito bites.

Environmental modification is the preferred method of control, given the concerns about the negative health effect of insecticides and greater logistical difficulties with control agents.

Rapid rise in temperature disappears apple orchards in Kullu

New Delhi, Tuesday, August 7, The rapid rise in temperature in the lower areas of Kullu in Himachal Pradesh has forced farmers to replace apple orchards with more profitable and weather friendly fruit tree pomegranate. Farmers in Kullu are increasingly focusing more on pomegranate as high temperature has made apple orchards to disappear.

Sainj valley, Bhuntar, Bajaura, Banjar valley and land below Katrain village are leading the pomegranate transformation. Over 550 hectares of land in Kullu has been covered under pomegranate plantation.

Pomegranate cultivation is now slowly moving towards Manali. Hundreds of horticulturists have grown several varieties in their fields in between the apple orchards to see whether they would produce fruit or not as an experiment.

Pomegranate has beaten apple in fruit growing areas of Kullu due to the rapid rise in the temperature. There are some other factors also responsible for apple losing ground to pomegranate. Pomegranate starts giving fruits after four year plantation while apple trees take ten years to give fruits.

Farmers are already reaping handsome returns. A bigha of land is earning Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 lakh for growers. High market price for pomegranate has influenced many farmers to replace even their vegetable fields by pomegranate trees.

Showers set to lash Gujarat, Rajasthan and MP; rainfall activities to continue over Delhi

New Delhi, Tuesday, August 7, Showers are likely to lash east Gujarat, southeast Rajasthan and west Madhya Pradesh during the next twenty four hours. Shower activities are likely to continue over Delhi as well during the next twenty four to forty eight hours. Light to moderate rainfall is expected over Tamil Nadu.

Rainfall over Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan is likely to increase as the monsoon trough is passing through Bikaner, Jaipur, Gwalior, Balasore to the Bay of Bengal. Monsoon trough is essentially a region of intensified moisture-laden winds.

Also, the cyclonic circulation over east Madhya Pradesh and adjacent areas has moved westward and currently lies over north Madhya Pradesh to lash these areas. Rains are likely to be heavy over east Gujarat, southeast Rajasthan and west Madhya Pradesh during the next twenty four hours.

West Madhya Pradesh is already witnessing heavy to exceptionally heavy rainfall as Hoshangabad and the capital Bhopal received 200 mm and 107 mm of rain respectively during the last twenty four hours. Showers have extended its reach up to east Gujarat as well as southeast Rajasthan and a few places over this region could experience heavy fall in the next twenty four hours.

Rainfall is expected to increase over east Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and northeastern states during the next twenty four hours. The rain prospect is looking good in these areas as the eastern end of the monsoon trough is predicted to move northward during this period.

The northward shift of the eastern end of the monsoon trough is set to decrease rainfall activity over Jharkhand, east Madhya Pradesh, north Chhattisgarh and Gangetic West Bengal during this period.

Rains are also likely to subdue over coastal Orissa and Andhra Pradesh as there is no weather system prevailing here right now.

Along the west coast, the seasonal off shore trough is feeble and keeps heavy rain prospect away yet the moisture laden southwesterly winds will give light to moderate showers over coastal Maharashtra, Konkan, Goa and coastal Karnataka.

But these southwesterly winds fall flat in the interiors of the southern Peninsula and left the areas dry. Isolated light showers may happen over these areas. These winds are also keeping Tamil Nadu humid. West Rajasthan would continue to witness dry weather due to the prevalent westerlies.

Scanty rain to bring down cotton production

New Delhi, Monday, August 6, The absence of rainfall activity during the month of August over Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka would cut the sowing area by 5%-10%. It could bring down the cotton production by 12 %. The scenario has evolved after rain activity has been predicted to remain scanty over these states in the month of August which will badly affect the late sowing of cotton.

Till now, 9.72 million hectares of cotton has been sown compared to 10.44 million hectares of cotton sown last year. With a normal August rain, farmers were expecting to increase the sown area to 10.44 million hectares but rainfall is unlikely to pick up during this period. So, the situation remains grim as rain scarcity is going to spoil even the late sowing of cotton.

The prospect of lower production is expected to lessen exports as well as it can decline to 5.4 million of bales during 2012-13 from 12.68 million of bales last year. Thus, the rain scarcity will lead to drop in export by more than twice compared to last year figure.

India is the world's second biggest cotton producer and exporter; it had produced a record 34.25 million bales in the financial year 2011-12. One bale contains 170 kg of cotton.

Artificial rain for Rajasthan

New Delhi, Monday, August 6, With rain predicted to remain scanty for the rest of the season over Rajasthan, the state is now trying to bring artificial rain. The possibilities are being explored for cloud seeding in Bhilwara, Rajsamand and Chittorgarh districts of Rajasthan, the state where five districts have been declared drought hit. Artificial rain is done by a process called cloud seeding. While experiments on cloud seeding have been going on for many years, but this is the first time it is being tried in a desert state in India.

Cloud seeding is a process of weather modification. It is an attempt to alter the amount or type of rain that falls from clouds. It is done by dispersing salt or other chemical into the air. The process helps cloud to condense enough to start precipitation.

The chemical used in cloud seeding includes Silver Iodide, dry ice or solid carbon dioxide, liquid propane and sodium Chloride. Cloud seeding cannot be done in any of the cloud. For this, we need to identify clouds fit for seeding. The identification of the cloud is usually done by radar.  An aircraft is used then to disperse salts using flares or explosives in the lower level of clouds. As water joins the salts to grow its size led to rainfall.

Heavy downpour likely over central India; respite for Uttarakhand and UP

New Delhi, Monday, August 6, Showers are likely to increase over central India including Madhya Pradesh, south Chhattisgarh and Vidarbha during the next twenty four hours. Rains are likely to continue over Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh during the next one or two days but the intensity of the rain would decrease.

Widespread rainfall activities are predicted over Madhya Pradesh during the next twenty four hours. Isolated heavy to very heavy showers may also be experienced over Madhya Pradesh during this period. The rains would continue over the state capital Bhopal, which received heavy rain in the last twenty four hours.

Showers over central India are expected to increase as the monsoon trough has left the Himalayan foothills and currently positioned in the south of its normal position. It is passing through Anupgarh, Gwalior, Umeria, Ambikapur to the central west Bay of Bengal. Monsoon trough is essentially a region of intensified moisture laden monsoon winds.

The shift of the western end of the monsoon trough would give respite to Uttarakhand and west Uttar Pradesh as rain intensity is likely to subdue. The eastern end of the monsoon trough has also moved downward and the rain activities over east and northeastern states are likely to be subdued.

A cyclonic circulation lies over east Madhya Pradesh and adjoining areas. This will bring rain over interior Orissa, south Chhattisgarh, east Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Telangana and Rayalseema in the next twenty four hours. The coastal areas of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh are also likely to continue with showers as a coastal trough is extending from the north Bay of Bengal up to Andhra Pradesh.

The circulation is likely to move westward and expected to cover east Gujarat, Madhya Maharashtra as well as southeast Rajasthan after the next forty eight hours. This will bring light to moderate rainfall over these areas.

The offshore trough extended from south coastal Gujarat to coastal Karnataka is weak but light to moderate rainfall would continue as the moisture laden southwesterly wind keeps penetrating. The coastal areas of south Gujarat, Maharashtra, Konkan, Goa and north Karnataka will receive rain during the next twenty four hours. Isolated heavy rain can be expected over Konkan and Goa.

The weather in western Rajasthan remains dry due to the prevalence of westerlies. South Tamil Nadu is hot and humid as there is not enough moisture in the air to bring rain. Temperatures over these areas are still high.

Drought fears to trigger migration in west Rajasthan

New Delhi, Friday, August 3, West Rajasthan has been left dry for the most part of this monsoon season. With a rain deficiency of more than 80%, the residents in this western most part of the country fear drought and looking to migrate.

The residents of rural areas of Jaisalmer and Barmer are considering migration as the rains continued to be evasive from the region. The region usually gets rain when a low pressure area or a cyclonic circulation develops over the Arabian Sea and penetrates from the west coast to send the southwesterly winds into this region but that has not happened as yet. The prevalence of westerly winds is also adding to the miseries of residents as they make weather hot.

The drought prone areas of Rajasthan, Jaisalmer and Barmer witnessed waterlogged fields last year during the same period but now they are struggling to the feed their cattle and family as rain scarcity has led to dried up tankas (small underground tanks) and disappeared fodder for cattle.

Rain prospects in the months of August and September are also not boding well for this region. During this period, rain deficiency is likely to be around 60%-70%, which is unlikely to give any relief to the residents of the border areas.

 

August rain to benefit late Onion sowing

New Delhi, Friday, August 3, Rains are predicted to be normal over Onion growing areas of Maharashtra and Gujarat during the month of August. The rain would benefit the late Kharif sowing of Onion thus erasing some of the recent concerns raised over the supply of Onion during October-December as the late Kharif sowing is harvested during this period.

Concerns were raised over the supply of Onion and the possible price rise when rain scarcity over onion growing areas of Maharashtra and Gujarat during this monsoon has led to a reduction of sowing areas almost by half. Due to poor rain and also lower price of the crop, some farmers in Nashik regions have sown Soybean and coarse grain in place of onion in their field. Though, the fall in acreage would affect the production of onion, but the late Kharif crop will make up that gap during October-December.

With a stock of 18 lakh tonnes of Onion and a predicted normal rainfall during the month of August, the situation may not deteriorate as much as being predicted now.

The export of onion rose by 32000 tonnes in the first three months of 2012-13 compared to the same period last year. During April-June period this year the country exported 4,61,854 tonnes of onions compared to  4,29,802 tonnes of onion last year.

Heavy rains likely over west Uttar Pradesh, south Chhattisgarh; fall in temperatures likely over the northwest region

New Delhi, Friday, August 3, Heavy rains are expected over west Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, south Chhattisgarh and Vidarbha in the next twenty four hours. Rainfall activities are predicted for all over Uttar Pradesh and adjoining Bihar, Jharkhand, east Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and north coastal Andhra Pradesh. The northwest region would also receive light to moderate rainfall over north Punjab and Haryana that would cause fall in temperatures in the region during the next one or two days.

Showers would be heavy over west Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand as the monsoon trough is close to the foothills of the Himalayas. Moderate rainfall over Himachal Pradesh is also predicted during the next twenty four hours.

The eastern end of the monsoon trough is passing through Basti, Ballia, Bokaro, and Canning to the Bay of Bengal. This will usher rain over east Uttar Pradesh adjoining Bihar, Jharkhand and east Madhya Pradesh. Moderate rain would continue over these places during the next twenty four hours. Monsoon trough is essentially a region of intensified moisture laden monsoon winds.

A cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal is expected to penetrate into the central India from the east coast. Coastal Orissa and north Andhra Pradesh will be the first beneficiaries of this surge of the cyclonic circulation, thereafter south Chhattisgarh, Vidarbha and some parts of southeast Madhya Pradesh would also receive showers in the next twenty four hours. The cyclonic circulation might reach up to west Madhya Pradesh and east Gujarat during the next forty eight hours. So, these region expect light shower during this period.

Temperatures over the northwest plains are set to drop significantly as rainfall activities are likely to pick up. A Western Disturbance passing over Jammu & Kashmir. A surge in the moisture laden southeasterly wind from the Bay of Bengal and the shifting of the western end of the monsoon trough along the Himalayan foothills would increase rain activities in the next twenty four hours. Light to moderate showers are expected to continue during the period over the region.

Along the west coast, the offshore trough extending from south Gujarat coast to Karnataka coast is weak, Light to moderate rainfall activity would continue along the coast as moisture laden southwesterly winds continue to prevail.

West Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu remain dry as rain fails to reach in these parts of the country.

Rains likely to increase over WB, Jharkhand, Bihar and east UP; Rise in temperature likely over the northwest region.

New Delhi, Thursday, August 2, Showers are likely to pick up over West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar , east Uttar Pradesh and northeast Madhya Pradesh in the next twenty four hours. Rains would decrease over central India , northwest Madhya Pradesh and southwest Uttar Pradesh in the next twenty four hours.
Rains would increase over West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and east Uttar Pradesh as a cyclonic circulation is persisting over the northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas of Gangetic West Bengal.
Due to the shift of the monsoon trough along the foothills of the Himalayas rain belt has also moved northwards. Showers are likely to decrease over central India as the low over northwest Madhya Pradesh adjoining Uttar Pradesh has faded away,
Subdued rainfall and prevalence of westerly over the northwest region would increase temperatures over Delhi , Haryana, and Punjab .
The western end of monsoon trough is close to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand so rains are likely to continue over these places in the next twenty four hours. The eastern end of monsoon trough passes through Behraich, Ballia, Dumka, Kolkata and then southeastwards to northeast Bay of Bengal .
Along the west coast, the seasonal offshore trough extending from south Gujarat coast to Karnataka coast is weak. Light to moderate rain activity would continue along the west coast in the next twenty four hours.

In the southern Peninsula , temperatures over Tamil Nadu are likely to remain high as rain activity is not visible.







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