Delayed monsoon may slow down sowing of crops even if it gathers pace later

Monsoon showers reached Kerala on Saturday, after a week's delay

The southwest monsoon, which waters more than half of India’s farmland, arrived in the country’s southern coast more than a week later than normal.

Monsoon showers reached Kerala on Saturday, said Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, additional director general of Meteorology at India’s Meteorological Department. The department in May had predicted a June 6 onset for the June-September rainy period. The monsoon typically reaches the southern state on June 1. The private forecaster Skymet Weather Services Pvt. saw it hitting the southern coast on June 7.

The monsoon, which accounts for more than 70% of India’s annual rainfall, is critical to the nation’s crop output