REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, NEW DELHI -- India will have a belated monsoon this year which may arrive on southern Kerala coast in southwest India in the next five days, said meteorological officials Monday.
After arriving over the Kerala coast, the monsoon will start its four-month long season across the country, arriving in northern India in early July.
B.P. Yadav, director of the India Meteorological Department, said he expects the monsoon to land in Kerala on June 5 the earliest, one week later than anticipated.
Last month, the weather office had forecast that the monsoon would arrive on the Kerala coast on May 30.
The monsoon arrived last year on June 6.
The late arrival of monsoon could hit millions of farmers and hurt agriculture, which occupies 15 percent of India's 2 trillion U.S. dollar economy.
The government has put in place contingency plans for about 580 districts in various states.
Monsoon helps farmers plant summer crops such as rice, soybean, cane and cotton.
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