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Monsoon seen reviving, say weather officials

India's four-month southwest monsoon rains, crucial to the country's agricultural sector, are showing signs of reviving after going through a weak phase, weather officials said on Wednesday.

The June-September rains are vital for the sector, which accounts for 25 per cent of the country's gross domestic product and provides employment to 70 per cent of its one billion people.

The monsoon started in the southern state of Kerala on schedule in early June and moved up to the western parts of the country but its progress in northwestern India has been erratic.

"The indication is that monsoon is reviving and the position is getting better," an official of the India Meteorological Department told Reuters.

He said a low pressure area which had formed over the Bay of Bengal was becoming stronger, raising hopes of rains in some regions in the coming days.

The official said clouds could be seen over the groundnut-growing western state of Gujarat and parts of Madhya Pradesh, the country's soybean bowl.

The agriculture ministry said on Tuesday it was worried about the erratic progress of the monsoon rains and the adverse impact it was having on crops such as oilseeds, coarse cereals and pulses.

It said weak monsoon conditions prevailed almost over the entire country in the week ended July 10. Out of 36 meteorological sub-divisions, 25 remained practically dry.

Oilseeds and cotton growing states including Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra have yet to receive a second spell of rains and the crops are under threat. Traders fear that absence of rains in the next three or four days could badly hit yields.

The IMD official said there was rain late on Tuesday in parts of Gujarat, industrially-rich Maharashtra and the eastern state of Orissa.

Analysts have said the delay in the rains could hit the country's economic recovery.

The IMD said in May the 2002 monsoon was expected to be normal, making it the 14th successive normal monsoon season. It defines a monsoon as normal if overall rainfall is 10 per cent above or below the long term average.

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