Above-average rains in over 6 yrs to assuage slowdown, water crisis: Report

The monsoon delivers about 70% of India's annual rainfall and determines the yield of rice, wheat, sugarcane and oilseeds, such as soybeans

India is likely to receive above-average monsoon rains in 2019 for the first time in six years as seasonal rainfall continues longer than expected, two senior weather department officials told Reuters, in a boon for the country's cooling economy.

Extra rainfall will help farmers expand areas under winter-sown crops such as wheat, rice rapeseed and chickpea, improving their earnings down the line and helping revive tepid rural demand that has stung Indian economic growth.

The longer monsoon could also restock reservoirs and help replenish ground water, helping assuage water shortages in pockets of the country of 1.3 billion people.

But