Monsoon rains 1 percent below average in past week

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's monsoon rains eased to edge below average in the week ending August 7, data from the weather office showed on Thursday, dampening concerns crops such as soybean and cotton might be damaged if downpours had continued.

Rainfall was 1 percent below average as against 17 percent above the previous week. The June to September rains were very heavy in the first half of the season, initially helping sowing but later raising worries of damage to crops.

India, one of the world's biggest producers and consumers of farm commodities, is heavily reliant on the annual monsoon for its huge harvests of rice, sugar and cash crops like cotton.

Rainfall halfway through the season to the end of July was 17 percent above average and farmers have taken advantage to plant much more land with summer crops than usual, with the exception of sugar cane, which is lagging.

The slowdown in rainfall over some parts of central and western India has now eased the damage concerns for crops such as soybean, groundnut and cotton.

Ample rainfall could mean higher rural incomes in the world's second most populous country, improving sales of everything from cars and gold to refrigerators.

(Reporting by Ratnajyoti Dutta; editing by Malini Menon)