India's monsoon to withdraw from Oct 6 after September downpour, says IMD

India's June-September monsoon rains are likely to start withdrawing from the northwest region from Oct. 6, marking one of the most delayed retreats of the seasonal rainfall, the Indian Meteorological Department said on Thursday.

South-west monsoon rains, which are vital for India's farmers, usually arrive at the southernmost Kerala coast around June 1 and start retreating in mid-September from the north-western state of Rajasthan.

But this year cyclones delayed the retreat and most parts of the country received heavy rainfall this week, which damaged summer-sown crops ready for harvesting.

India received 9% lower rainfall than normal up to the end of August, but a third more than normal in September narrowed deficit to 1%, the IMD said.

Nearly half of India's farmland gets no irrigation and is dependent on the annual monsoon rains.

Farming accounts for nearly 15% of India's economy, which is the third largest in Asia, and sustains more than half of a population of 1.3 billion.