Corrected - India downgrades monsoon forecast, stokes fears of drought

(Corrects second paragraph to say previous forecast was 93 pct, not 99 pct)

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has downgraded this year's monsoon forecast to 88 percent of the long-term average, Earth Sciences Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Tuesday, raising fears of a drought in the country where nearly half of farmland lack irrigation facilities.

India in April forecast monsoon rains at 93 percent of the long-term average.

The forecast has an error margin of 4 percentage points.

(Reporting by Ratnajyoti Dutta; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)