Monsoon 6 below normal last week

Indias vital monsoon rains were 6 below normal in last week,recovering from a 26 deficit in the previous week as heavy rainfall ended a relatively dry spell in soyabean and cane regions,the weather office said.

Rainfall improved in the entire country except in rice-growing eastern India,where the monsoon continued to be deficient. Sources in the weather office had earlier told Reuters rains were 6 below normal in the past week.

The monsoon rainfall since the start of the season from June 1 was 5 below normal. Rainfall in the current season has improved sharply from 2009,when a severe drought had hit cane and rice output,triggering a sustained rise in food inflation. Improved rainfall has helped farmers plant various crops over a larger area than last year.