Agro – Climatic Zones of Tamil Nadu
Agro – Climatic Zones of TN
• Based on the rainfall pattern, altitude and irrigation
sources, Tamil Nadu is divided into SEVEN agro-
climatic zones.
1. North eastern zone
2. North western zone
3. Western zone
4. Cauvery delta zone
5. Southern zone
6. High rainfall zone and
7. Hilly zone
Tamil Nadu
Latitude 8o20’ to 30o10’ N
Longitude 76o15’ to 80o20’E
Mean annual rainfall - 974 mm
North-east monsoon - 47%
south-west monsoon - 32%
summer - 16% winter -5%
Agro Climatic Zones details of Tamil Nadu
Particulars North Eastern North Western Cauvery Southern High Hilly
Western zone Delta Zone Rainfall Zone
Districts Kanchipuram Salem & Coimbato Thanjavur Pudukkottai, Kanya Nilgiris
North Arcot, Dharmapuri re & & Trichy Madurai, kumari
Vilupuram, Erode Dindigul,
Cuddalore, Sivagangai,
Perambalur & Virudunagar,
South Arcot Ramanad,
Tuticorine &
Tirunelveli
Rainfall (mm) 1100 875 670 900-1000 850 1460 1000 to
5000
Major season NEM - 50% SWM - 42 % NEM- NEM-50% NEM-55% SWM-38% NEM-
49% 36%
Max TempoC 28.5 to 38.4 30 to 37 30 to 35 30 to 38.5 28 to 38.5 28 to 33.5 15 to 24
Min. TempoC 21 to 28 oC 19 to 25 19 to 24 21 to 27 21 to 27.5 22 to 26.5 7 to 13
Soil Type Red sandy Red and Red and Alluvial, Black, red, Deep red Latertic
loam, clayey brown and black Red loamy alluvial and loam
loam and calcareousne soils and lateritic
saline coastal ss black Lateritic
alluvial
1. North Eastern Zone
• The North Eastern Zone comprising the revenue districts of
• Chengalpet,
• Thiruvallur,
• Kancheepuram,
• Vellore,
• Thirivannamalai,
• Villupuram,
• Cuddalore and Perambalur is located in between 8°5’ and
13°2’ north latitude and 76°15’and 80°22’ east longitude,
covering an area of 31,065 Sq. km equivalent to 23.9 per
cent of the State area.
North Eastern Zone
• The zone can be broadly divided into six geographical
tracts.
• Coastal plain comprises of the northern plain
(Kancheepuram district and part of Vellore, Cuddalore
and Tiruchirapalli districts) with 77 M above MSL;
• a considerable portion of hilly and mountainous area
undulating with hillocks;
• the eastern ghats comprising of hills; and the Central
plateau undulating between eastern and western ghats,
150 to 160 m in elevation.
• Western Ghats comprises the highest mountains of the
Peninsula. There are some backwater, lagoons adjoining
the coast, around Cuddalore, Marakkanam and
Pichavaram.
2. North Western Zone
• The north western zone comprising the revenue districts
of
• Dharmapuri (excluding hilly areas),
• Salem
• Namakkal is located in between 11° and 12°55’ North
latitude and 77°28’ and 78°50’ East longitude covering
an area of 16,150 Sq. km equivalent to 12.4 per cent of
the State area.
• Part of the tableland, an undulating plateau with hillocks
is rising from 600 to 1000 m above MSL.
• Tracts below 350 m MSL comprise the watershed
between the Cauvery and Vellur river systems. Besides,
the zone has Shervaray hills, Kalrayan hills and Kolli hills.
North Western Zone
• The climate in the zone ranges from semi-arid to
sub-humid with frequent occurrence of drought.
• The hottest months are March, April and May.
Excepting the hills, the annual rainfall ranges from
560 to 1080 mm and the hilly regions enjoy the
rainfall of above 1300 mm.
North Western Zone
• Southwest monsoon, northeast monsoon, winter
showers and summer rains contribute to the
annual rainfall.
• The monthly distribution of rainfall shows a
pronounced maximum in September-October
with a secondary peak during May.
• The maximum temperature ranges from 23° to
42°C and the minimum from 10° to 14°C and
being an interior region, the diurnal range of
temperature is large particularly in summer.
3. Western Zone
• The western zone comprises of Erode and
Coimbatore districts, Thiruchengodu Taluk of
Namakkal district, Karur Taluk of Karur district
and northern part of Dindigul and Madurai
districts.
• The zone is located in between 9°10’ and 12°
North latitude and 70°30’ to 78° East
longitude.
• The altitude of the zone ranges from 160 to
450 m above MSL.
Western Zone
• The zone has undulating topography sloping
towards east.
• Western and northern parts of the zone are
bound by the Western Ghats bordering Kerala
and Karnataka states with peaks ranging from
1000 to 2750 m above MSL.
• On the east, the zone is bordered by Salem,
Tiruchirapalli and Dindigul districts.
• The southern part of the zone lies in Madurai
district having contours of varying altitudes.
Western Zone
• The climate in the zone ranges from SEMI-ARID to SUB-HUMID with
frequent occurrence of drought.
• Four distinct seasons are SOUTH - WEST MONSOON (June - September),
NORTH - EAST MONSOON (October-December), WINTER (January-
February) and SUMMER (March-May).
• The cool months of the year are November to January and the hot
months are March, April and May.
• The annual rainfall of the zone varies from 524 to 1428 mm with an
average of 780 mm. Of the total rainfall, 48.4 per cent is received during
north-east monsoon and 32.2, 18.6 and 2.8 per cent during south west,
summer and winter seasons respectively.
• The maximum temperature of the zone ranges from 26.9 to 42.1°C and
the minimum from 16.2 to 24.5°C.
• The maximum temperature is experienced during the months of March,
April and May, gets reduced gradually and reaches the minimum during
the months of December and January. Being an interior region, the
diurnal variation in temperature is large particularly in the dry and hot
seasons.
4. Cauvery Delta Zone
• Cauvery Delta Zone lies in the eastern part of Tamil
Nadu between 10°00’ and 11°30’ North latitude and
78°15’ and 79°45’ East longitude.
• It is bound by the Bay of Bengal on the east, the Palk
Straight on the south, Tiruchirapalli and Perambalur
districts on the west and north-west, Cuddalore district
on the north and Pudukkottai district on the south-west.
• This zone comprises the entire revenue taluks of
Thanjavur, Thiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts,
Musiri, Kulithalai, Lalgudi and Tiruchi taluk of
Tiruchirapalli district, Chidambaram and
Kattumannarkovil taluks of Cuddalore district and
Aranthangi taluk of Pudukkottai district.
Cauvery Delta Zone
• It is a deltaic zone. Cauvery is the river traversing
the delta.
• A fair width of sandy beach occurs including the
sand bars on the sea surface of the river delta,
stiff clay seashores and marshy tidal swamps with
mangroves.
• The terrain is an open plain sloping gently
towards east and devoid of any hills or hillocks.
• The altitude ranges from 6 to 250 m above MSL.
Cauvery Delta Zone
• The Cauvery delta zone has diverse climatic conditions as the
zone includes coastal belt as well as inland area.
• Cyclonic storms and high humidity occur in coastal belts. The
coastal belt is favoured by high rainfall and when it proceeds
to the interior, the rainfall intensity decreases.
• The mean annual rainfall is 1,192 mm. North-east monsoon
alone contributes about 52.5 per cent of the total followed by
south-west monsoon with 30.5 percent.
• Hot weather season accounts for 11.4 per cent while, the
winter season has only 5.6 per cent.
• The mean maximum temperature reaches 38.6°C in the
month of May and the minimum of 21.0°C in December.
• April to August is the hot months and November to February
is the cool months.
5. Southern Zone
• The southern zone is located between 8 and 10°.55’
North latitude and 79° 50 East longitudes.
• It is bound on the north by Tiruchirapalli and
Thanjavur districts of Cauvery delta zone, on the south
by Kanyakumari district of heavy rainfall zone and the
Indian Ocean, on the east by Bay of Bengal and on the
west by Kerala and part of Madurai district of the
western zone.
• The southern zone consists of Tiruneveli, Tuticorin,
Virudunagar, Ramanathpuram and Sivagangai districts,
Thirumangalam, Madurai south, Madurai north and
Melur taluks of Madurai district, Dindigul and northern
taluks of Dindigul district and Pudukottai district
Southern Zone
• This zone comprises of flat plains and
intermittent hills at varying altitudes ranging
up to 700 m high.
• The topography is undulating with the
gradient sloping towards the east.
• The major river systems are Vaigai,
Manimuthar, Sarguni, Gundar and Arjuna
nadhi.
Southern Zone
• The climate of the southern zone is generally semi-arid and only a
small portion comes under – sub-humid.
• Thus, frequent drought occurs. Summer is very hot. The zone
comes under rain shadow area.
• The rainfall ranges from 700 to 1277 mm with a mean of 876.4
mm. North-east monsoon accounts for 54.9 per cent of total
rainfall and forms the main cropping season.
• South-west monsoon accounts for 23.9 per cent of total rainfall of
this zone. Winter rainfall is negligible and summer rainfall forms
13.0 per cent.
• The maximum temperature ranges between 30.0°C and 37.5°C,
while the minimum temperature is from 20.0°C to 27.0°C.
• The temperature is more or less similar in most parts of this zone.
• However, along the Western Ghats, the minimum temperature
tends to be low.
6. High Rainfall Zone
• The High rainfall zone of Tamil Nadu consists of
Kanyakumari district, located between 77°50’
and 77°36’ East longitude and 8°03’ and 8°35’
North latitude.
• It is bordered by Tirunelveli district in north-east,
the Kerala State in the North West and Arabian
Sea in the west and Indian Ocean in the south.
High Rainfall Zone
• Kanyakumari district extends from the Arabian Sea
to the Western Ghats up to an elevation of 600 m
above MSL.
• Two distinct physiographyic regions viz., the hill
and ‘else’ region and the plains are identifiable in
this district.
• The climate is sub humid influenced by both the
south-west and north-east monsoons, because of
the proximity of sea and the Western Ghats.
• There is not much variation in the mean monthly
temperature, which varies from 23.9°C
(minimum) to 36.7°C (maximum).
7. Hilly Zone
• This zone comprises the Nilgiris, the Shervarays, the
Yelgiris, the Anamalais and the Palani hills.
• The rainfall varies from 1000 mm at the foot of the
hills to 5000 mm at the peaks.
• The maximum temperature varies from 15°C to 24°C
and that of minimum ranges from 7° to 13°C.
• The soil is mainly lateritic.
• The major crops are vegetables, potato and tropical
and temperate fruit crops.
• At the foot of the hills, hill tribes raise minor millets.
• At higher altitudes wheat cultivation is common
during winter season.
