Monsoon will hit the Kerala coast on June 1, setting the stage for the four-month annual rainfall season crucial for India's agriculture-based economy.
"The date of onset of the southwest monsoon over Kerala is likely to be on June 1 with a model error of four days," the India Meteorological Department announced on Tuesday.
Stage is set for the onset of monsoon in South Andaman Sea, which usually happens around May 20.
The seasonal rains then make steady progress towards the mainland, bringing showers to the Kerala coast first and cheer to millions of farmers.
"The monsoon is likely to advance over Andaman Sea slightly later than its normal date but well within one standard deviation," the weather office said.
In April, India had predicted a normal monsoon for the third consecutive year.
There was 47 per cent probability of a normal monsoon as against 24 per cent probability of below normal rains this season, the weather office had said in the long range forecast announced on April 26.
Monsoon is crucial for kharif crops such as rice, cotton, soyabean and maize because almost 60 per cent of the farm land in the country gets rains.
India is estimated to have harvested a record 252.56 million tonne of foodgrains in 2011-12 as against 244.78 million tonne in the previous year.
