Monsoon above average ahead of final retreat

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India saw above-average rains last week, data from the weather office showed on Thursday, spurring hopes that rice yields may get a boost from the heavy downpour at the tail end of the four-month monsoon season.

Rainfall was 18 percent above average in the week ended September 25, compared with a 25 percent shortage a week ago, according to the data.

India's grains production this summer is likely to be near an all-time high after plentiful rains, the government has said, helping to tame high food prices and boost farm sector growth in the world's second-most populous country.

Last week's rains as the June-to-September season draws to a close should help rice beat the government's forecast for a marginal year-on-year drop in output to 92.3 million tonnes.

The monsoon, which is vital for the 55 percent of India's farmland that does not have irrigation, started the four-month season with very heavy rains, ensuring that the lower-than-average rainfall later on was not a major problem.

This year, the rains started their retreat about a week earlier than usual on September 9. (Reporting by Ratnajyoti Dutta; editing by Mayank Bhardwaj)