By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : The southwest monsoon withdrew from the whole of Odisha Tuesday, the director of the Bhubaneswar meteorological centre said.
The withdrawal line passes through Kalingpatnam and Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, and Gadag and Karwar in Karnataka, S.C. Sahu told IANS.
A good monsoon is crucial for the state which has about 73 percent of the workforce engaged in the agriculture sector. Odisha contributes about one-tenth of the country’s total rice production, he said.
The monsoon normally reaches the state by June 10. However, this year it was delayed by a week. “The (monsoon) rains from June 1-Sep 30 were almost normal,” Sahu said.
The state received about 1,147 mm of rain against a normal of around 1,150 mm during the period, he said.
The withdrawal of monsoon will not have any adverse impact on the rabi crop (sown in winter and harvested in the summer season) as Odhisha received rains during the first fortnight of this month, he said.