Monsoon 25% below normal, rice cultivation hit

Monsoon rains were 25 percent below normal in the week to July 6, slowing from the 10 percent above average rains in the previous week, the weather office said on Thursday.

The slowing rains reflect a weakness in the monsoon over rice, cotton and oilseeds growing areas of east, west and central India.

But the weekly rains were above normal over the cotton and rice growing areas of Andhra Pradesh.

India’s June to September monsoon rains are crucial to crop production in 60 percent of the country.