Monsoon rains cover half of India - weather officials

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's annual monsoon rains have covered half of the land mass four days later than the usual date, sources in the weather office said on Thursday.

The monsoon rains arrived five days behind schedule over the southern Kerala coast on June 6, and had since progressed at a slower pace over mainland India.

Last year, the annual rains covered half of the country by June 13, two days ahead of the usual date of June 15.

The rains are crucial for about half of farmland without irrigation in India, one of the world's top producers and consumers of grains.

(Reporting by Ratnajyoti Dutta; editing by Malini Menon)