Monsoon rains fall all over India ahead of schedule

Business Times 7 Jul 10;

(NEW DELHI) India's annual monsoon rains, a key factor that drives its economy, have covered the vast country after a sluggish spell, a top weather official said yesterday, boosting the outlook for farm products and rural income.

'The monsoon has covered the entire country by about nine days ahead of schedule,' BP Yadav, director of the India Meteorological Department, told Reuters.

The rains had advanced into the key grain-producing states of Punjab and Haryana by Monday, continuing a rapid revival after falling 16 per cent below normal in June.

The June-September rains usually covers the entire country by the middle of July. The shortfall in monsoon rains since June 1 had narrowed to 13 per cent after five days of heavy rainfall, data from the weather office showed on Monday.

The recovery of monsoon, the main source of water for summer-sown crops, allayed fears of farm losses in one of the world's top producers and consumers of cotton, rice and sugar, and the biggest importer of vegetable oils. India, which gets 80 per cent of its annual rainfall from the monsoon, is one of the world's leading producers of rice, wheat and sugar.

Earlier, an uncertain start to the rainy season had fuelled worries about food inflation, which is already running at nearly 13 per cent and has a major impact on India's impoverished millions, the Congress-led government's core support.

The government needs a decent monsoon to help rein in the price rises that have triggered opposition-led demonstrations around the country. With only 40 per cent of arable land under irrigation, India's 235 million farmers rely on the capricious rains to soak the rock-hard earth and turn it into fertile soil. -- Reuters, AFP