Explanation:

Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect

Southwest Monsoon

• The India Meteorological Department (IMD) recently stated that the Southwest monsoon has made its onset over the Nicobar Islands, the southernmost region of the country.

• Southwest monsoon, the lifeline of India's farm-based economy and has recently made its onset over the Nicobar Islands.

• It is a sea-breeze from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal that officially onsets over Kerala on June 1 and retreats from Rajasthan by the end of September.

• According to IMD, the date of monsoon onset over Kerala has varied widely over the last 150 years, the earliest being May 11 in 1918, and the most delayed being June 18 in 1972.

• The rain-bearing system arrived in the southern state on June 8 last year, May 29 in 2022, June 3 in 2021 and June 1 in 2020.

• IMD had forecast above-normal rain in the monsoon season in India with favourable La Nina conditions, cooling of equatorial Pacific Ocean, expected to set in by August-September.

• The monsoon is critical for India's agricultural landscape, with 52% of the net cultivated area relying on it.

• It is also crucial for replenishing reservoirs critical for drinking water, apart from power generation across the country.

• June and July are considered the most important monsoon months for agriculture because most of the sowing for the kharif crop takes place during this period.

Hence option 3rd is correct.