India, April 9 -- The monsoon has long been seen as the most destructive season for Indian agriculture, with heavy rains and floods between June and September damaging crops across large areas. However, an analysis of data from 2022 to early April 2026 suggests a shift in both the timing and scale of risks to farming.

Alongside the monsoon, the pre-monsoon season is now emerging as a new period of high risk to crops, according to the analysis based on India's Interactive Atlas on Weather Disasters.

Rising crop losses before the monsoon

Unseasonal rains and hailstorms during the pre-monsoon period are increasingly damaging crops at a time once considered relatively safe for farming.

In three of the past four years - 2022, 2024 and 2025...