MUMBAI, India (Reuters) — Monsoon rains are expected to arrive on India’s southern Kerala coast by June 7, about a week later than usual, the country’s weather office said May 15.
The delay is not expected to affect seeding. Rains are expected to make rapid progress after their arrival.
Laxman Singh Rathore, chief of the India Meteorological Department, said he was sticking to the original forecast of above-average rainfall this year after two straight years of drought that cut farm income.
The monsoon season delivers 70 percent of India’s annual rainfall, which is crucial for agriculture and economic growth that has been hampered by back-to-back droughts.
About half the country’s farmland lacks irrigation, and farmers have blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for a slow response after drought ravaged their crops in 2014 and 2015.
Two-thirds of India’s population depends on farming.
