New Delhi:
Monsoon rains were 21 per cent above average in the week to September 12, the weather office said on Thursday, the third straight week of heavier than normal rains, abating the threat of a widespread drought in the country.
The rains, vital for the 55 per cent of agricultural land without irrigation, are still 8 per cent short of average so far and the shortage has curbed planting of cereals and pulses in some drought-hit areas of west and south India, threatening output.
Rains below 90 per cent of long-term averages are considered deficient - a drought in layman's terms.
In the previous week, rainfall across the country was 31 per cent above average, as the monsoon revived in rice, cane and soybean areas of one of the world's leading food consumers and producers.
India, whose huge land mass contains nearly all climates and soil types, last faced widespread drought in 2009 when the June-to-September monsoon rains were 22 per cent below average and it had to import sugar, pushing global prices to 30-year highs.
India's weather office still retains its forecast of at least 10 per cent below average rains for the whole season despite the late revival.
© Thomson Reuters 2012