(Corrects first paragraph to say monsoon will arrive six days early, not five)
NEW DELHI, May 15 (Reuters) – Monsoon rains are expected to hit India’s southern coast on May 26, six days earlier than usual, the state-run weather office said on Friday, spurring hopes among farmers of early planting of crops such as rice, corn, soybean and sugarcane.
The monsoon is likely to set in over the southern state of Kerala on May 26, with a margin of error of four days, the India Meteorological Department said in a statement.
Typically, the monsoon ends across the country by mid-September and always begins in Kerala.
The monsoon is essential to India’s nearly $4 trillion economy, delivering almost 70% of the rainfall needed to water farms and replenish aquifers and reservoirs.
Last month, the India Meteorological Department forecast below-average monsoon rains in 2026 for the first time in three years, raising concerns over farm output and economic growth in Asia’s third-largest economy, which, like other countries, already faces higher inflation because of the Iran war.
The India Meteorological Department defines normal, or average, rainfall as between 96% and 104% of a 50-year average of 87 cm (35 inches) for the four-month season.
(Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj; editing by Barbara Lewis)
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