This is the time when the Wayanad district usually witnesses brisk agricultural activities such as land preparation for sowing rice and planting of pepper and coffee seedlings, but most farmers here are yet to start the activities owing to erratic rainfall caused by climate change.
According to data available with the Hume Centre for Ecology and Wildlife Biology here, an average monsoon rainfall of 71.4 mm was recorded in the district from June 1 to June 23 against a long period average of 165 mm (in the past 60 years), a deficit of nearly 55%. It was 73.83 mm during the corresponding period last year. It was 375.24 mm in 2021 and 184.36 mm in 2022.
The rainfall pattern in the district also witnessed drastic change. While the Cheeral area on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border got 108.5 mm rainfall during the monsoon, Chettimattom near Pulpally received only 19 mm rainfall.
