India's weather office says monsoon likely to hit around June 3

MONSOON rains are likely to hit India's southern coast around June 3, largely in line with typical patterns, the state-run India Meteorological Department said in its latest revised forecast.

Earlier, the weather office had said the start of the monsoon would be on May 31.

The latest weather forecast showed that southwesterly winds could strengthen further gradually from June 1, resulting in a likely enhancement in rainfall over the southern state of Kerala, the forecast said.

"Hence the monsoon onset over Kerala is likely to take place by 3 June 2021," it said.

Nearly half of India's farmland has no irrigation and depends on annual June-September rains to grow crops such as rice, corn, cane, cotton and soybeans.

India's weather office said last month the country was expected to get average monsoon rains this year, raising expectations of higher farm output, which is central to the country's economy.

The country's economic growth picked up in the January-March quarter from the previous three months, but economists have grown pessimistic about this quarter after a huge second wave of Covid-19 infections hit India last month

India has recorded 28 million Covid-19 infections, behind only the US, and 329,100 deaths as of Monday (31), although the rise has begun to slow.