India forecasts needed monsoon rains

NEW DELHI, July 30 (UPI) -- India says monsoon rains vital to agriculture will be better than previously forecast although eastern parts of the country could by drier than normal.

Indian forecasters said a late monsoon surge in July bridged the gap in the rainfall for the month and was now 1 per cent more than normal, the Press Trust India reported Friday.

"Quantitatively, rainfall for the country as a whole during the period August to September is likely to be 107 percent of long period average," said Ajit Tyagi, director general of the India Meteorological Department.

An even distribution of rain meant more than 75 percent of the country received normal rainfall, Tyagi said.

The La Nina effect, the cooling of Central Pacific waters that increases rainfall in south Asia, would be a key factor for an active monsoon season in August-September, forecasters said.