Monsoon Began Late - But Will End Late, Benefit Farmers, Says Weather Chief

New Delhi: Monsoon rains are likely to end later than usual this year, with plentiful showers towards the latter stages of the season helping farmers recover from two straight droughts, the chief of the weather office told Reuters on Friday.

A week's delay in the onset of the monsoon this year has caused the planting of summer-sown crops such as cotton, rice, soybean and sugar cane to drop by nearly 24 per cent.

The monsoon has remained 15 per cent lower than average in June, but the deficit is expected to narrow in the days to come, Laxman Singh Rathore of the Meteorological Department said in an interview.

The weather office forecasts monsoon rains to be above average this year after the droughts ravaged crops and worsened rural distress.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday singled out good rains as one of the factors helping India when Britain's vote to leave the European Union is roiling world markets.

Monsoon rains typically arrive at the southern coast of Kerala by June 1 and start retreating by September from Rajasthan. But a late start is no guarantee of a delayed end.

"There is a strong possibility that the terminal phase will be wetter and the withdrawal will be later than normal," Mr Rathore said.

Farmers will need to adjust their sowing period to reap a good crop, Mr Rathore added.

An extended monsoon leaves the soil moist for the sowing of winter crops such as rapeseed, wheat and lentils.