New Delhi, April 15: Amid the coronavirus lockdown in place till May 3, Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) on Wednesday stated that India will have a normal monsoon this year. The Ministry even predicted that during the monsoon season 2020 (June-September), it is expected that rainfall would be 100 percent of its long period average with an error of +5 or -5 percent due to model error.

Informiong about the latest predition, MoES Secretary Madhavan Rajeevan said, as quoted by news agency ANI, "This year we will have a normal monsoon. Quantitatively the monsoon rainfall, during the monsoon season 2020, is expected to be 100% of its long period average with an error of +5 or -5% due to model error." Centre Allows Harvesting of Crops on Condition that Social Distancing is Practiced by Farm Workers, Exempts Sale of Agricultural Goods From COVID-19 Lockdown.

Here's the tweet by ANI:

Earlier reports arrived that MoES will release the forecast through online video conferencing and live streaming from the national capital as part of social distancing measures put in place in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Similar arrangements were made by India Meteorological Department (IMD), which have predicted good rainfall this harvesting season.

Meanwhile, Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday totally exempted agriculture and related activities from the lockdown as they fall under essential services. Apart from this, Home Ministry stated that selected activities, including fisheries, enhanced animal husbandry and MNREGA works would be permitted post April 20 in areas which are not COVID-19 hotspots. Lockdown Guidelines: What Remains Open, Shut, Allowed, Disallowed in Phase 2 of Coronavirus Shutdown? See MHA List. 

The MHA statement reads, "According to the guidelines issued by the MHA, "From 20 April activities permitted include agricultural, horticultural, farming, procurement of agri products, 'mandis'. Shops of farm machinery, its spare parts, supply chain, repairs, 'Custom Hiring Centres' related to machinery will also remain open."

It is to be known that Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on April 2 stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had allowed harvesting of the crops on condition that social distancing is practiced by the farm workers. Also, sale of related items like pesticides, fertilizers, seeds are exempted from the coronavirus lockdown.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 15, 2020 02:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).