Photos: Southwest monsoon covers entire India earlier than usual, brightens crop prospects

Farmers plant paddy saplings in a field near Balurghat in South Dinajpur district of West Bengal. India's annual monsoon, crucial for farm output and economic growth, has rapidly advanced to cover the entire country, spurring crop sowing and alleviating the economic damage caused by a nationwide lockdown to stem the coronavirus.

Women walk on a road during heavy downpour in Morigaon district in Assam. "The southwest monsoon has further advanced into the remaining parts of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab (states) and thus it has covered the entire country today, June 26," the state-run India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a statement.

Horse carts ply on a road amid a shower in Lucknow. The monsoon has covered the entire country nearly two weeks earlier than usual, brightening prospects for healthy summer-sown crops and promising higher incomes in the countryside where most Indians live.

A man sits in a shack next to flood waters in Morigaon district of Assam. India's farm sector employs more than half of the country's 1.3 billion population and accounts for nearly 15% of India's $2.9 trillion economy.

Women cross a water-logged road after heavy rains, in Kozhikode, Kerala. A low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal and a cyclonic circulation over central India helped the monsoon cover the entire country earlier than expected, the IMD said.

The normal date for this is July 15, and in 2013 seasonal rains covered India on June 16, the IMD said. Since then annual rains have either covered India around June 15 or later than expected. Above: A man walks with family holding an umbrella during heavy rain, in Kolkata.

Farmers prepare a field for the plantation of paddy crop, in Nadia district of West Bengal. Monsoon rains arrived on the southernmost Kerala coast on June 1. The Monsoon delivers about 70% of India's annual rainfall and waters nearly half of the country's farmland that lacks irrigation.

India is likely to receive above average monsoon rains for the second straight year in 2020, the IMD said in its revised forecast on June 1. Above: A coconut tree seen uprooted due to sea erosion following heavy rainfall, at Uchila Someshwara area in the outskirts of Mangaluru.

Dark clouds hover over Moorusavir Math, in Hubballi. IMD defines average, or normal, rainfall as between 96% and 104% of a 50-year average of 88 cm for the entire four-month season.

Farmers plant crops such as rice, corn, cane, cotton and soybeans in the rainy months of June and July, with harvests from October. Above: Farmers plant saplings in a rice field on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.

A view of heavy monsoon rain, in Prayagraj.

Villagers cross a flooded area on a boat, following heavy monsoon rain, at a village in Morigaon district.

A man walks at a closed market during monsoon rains, in Dibrugrah.

A horsecart is seen in the backdrop of Anna Sagar Lake with dark monsoon clouds in the sky, in Ajmer.

Flood affected villagers make a temporary shelter following floods on a road in Morigaon district in Assam.

A woman pulls her cycle through a waterlogged road after pre-Monsoon rains, in Ghaziabad.

Monsoon clouds hover in the sky over the historic Red Fort in old Delhi.

A villager builds a temporary roadside shelter for her family after flooding in Morigaon district of Assam.

A shopkeeper display umbrellas on the arrival of monsoon, at main road in Ranchi.

A person rides a scooter through a waterlogged road during monsoon rain showers in Mumbai.