The India Meteorological Department is suggesting this year’s monsoon season will be average, the Times of India reports. The newspaper points to a recent weather bulletin from the agency saying El Niño won’t be a factor during the summer rainy season.
The weather pattern — an abnormal warming of the ocean surface in central and eastern equatorial Pacific — is usually associated with weak monsoons. The U.S. weather agency is also reporting that La Niña is loosening its grip on the tropics, the paper said.
Back-to-back droughts in 2014-15 led to a surge in Indian pulse imports, but the return of the rains has boosted local production and led to tariffs that are driving down pea and lentil acreage here.
