India forecasts above average monsoon rains in boost to crop output

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: India said on Monday it is likely to receive above average monsoon rainfall in 2024, in a potential boost for the country which depends heavily on the summer rains for its farm output. The lifeblood of India’s economy delivers nearly 70% of the rain needed to water crops and recharge reservoirs and aquifers, with nearly half of its farmland, without any irrigation, depending on the June-September rains to grow a number of crops.

A spell of good rains could lift farm and wider economic growth, helping to bring down food price inflation, which has remained above the central bank’s comfort level in recent months and prompted it to resist cutting lending rates.

The monsoon, which usually arrives over the southern tip of Kerala state around June 1 and retreats in mid-September, is expected to total 106% of the long-term average this year, said M. Ravichandran, secretary in the Ministry of Earth Sciences.