Indian monsoon rains likely to be 98 percent of the seasonal average

NEW DELHI (AFP) Jul 09, 2003
India's monsoon rains are likely to be 98 percent of the seasonal average, allaying fears that a drought would be repeated this year, the Indian meteorological department said in a statement Wednesday.

"Monsoon rains for the country are likely to be 98 percent of the average," the statement said.

"There is a 66 percent probability of rainfall being near normal or even higher," it added.

A severe drought last year hit the country's agriculture sector hard, slowing India's economic growth down to 4.3 percent from 5.7 percent the previous year.

Seventeen of India's 29 states experienced a drought last June and July, including the country's breadbasket northern states.

The annual June-September monsoon rains are the key to India's farm-based economy, with agriculture contributing 25 percent to gross domestic product and employing 70 percent of India's more than one billion population.

An estimated 300 million people were directly affected by the dry spell.

TERRA.WIRE