Monsoon rains cover whole of India 10 days ahead of schedule

The south-west monsoon, crucial for India's agriculture and economy has, after playing truant last year, covered almost the whole country nearly 10 days ahead of schedule according to the latest report from India's Meteorological Department.

Almost all parts of Rajasthan received rains yesterday, with Mount Abu recording the maximum 62.2 mm of rainfall according to the met office. Experts say early arrival of the monsoon over the whole of India has narrowed the seasonal deficit to 13 per cent, as against the 16 per cent deficit due to scanty rains in June.

In June, the recorded rainfall was 16 per cent below normal, with the monsoon restricted to central India for two weeks. However, heavy showers in the past week have narrowed the deficit to 13 per cent, the meteorological department said.

The monsoon revival will immediately help soybean and groundnut crop and also benefit the cane crop in UP, which produces half the cane in the top sugar consumer in the world.

The weather office is expecting total June-September rainfall to be normal despite the June deficit.

Forecasters and analysts however remain unimpressed by the rapid progress of rains in recent days and point to last year's monsoon that covered the entire country by 3 July but India still faced the worst drought in 37 years.