Monsoon rain forecast lifts India farm output prospects

Bloomberg

Indian farmers are expected to expand planting of major crops such as rice, corn and soybeans after the national weather forecaster predicted bountiful rains during the June-September monsoon season.
The India Meteorological Department maintained on Tuesday its earlier forecast of a normal monsoon, which waters more than half of the country’s farmland. Cumulative rains are likely to be 101% of the long-term average during the four-month period, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of the weather bureau, said. That compared with its April prediction of 98%. A normal monsoon season is critical for India’s crop output and economic growth at a time when the country is battling the world’s worst outbreak of Covid-19. The virus has spread to rural areas, where about 70% of the nation’s more than 1.3 billion people live.