Weak India monsoon rains threaten planting - attache

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Farmers in India will face a shorter window to plant crops this season if the region's annual monsoon remains weak, a U.S. Department of Agriculture attache in New Delhi said in a report released Tuesday.

The attache's report showed there had been some increased rainfall in the week ended July 1, but not enough to sustain planting operations.

The monsoon rains, vital to India's huge farm economy, picked up in the southernmost parts of the country, north eastern India, and some areas of north, west, and central

India, the report said.

"The rest of the country received significantly below normal rains, ranging from 22 percent to 88 percent," the attache said.

Heavier rains were expected this week, Indian government officials have said, but the country plans to divert power supplies to irrigate crops in case of drought.

The attache report said farmers were behind in planting seven of the 10 major kharif crops.

Millet plantings as of July 3 were down 91.7 percent from last season. Plantings were down 67.4 percent for soybeans, 32.9 percent for corn, 26.5 percent for rice and 3 percent for sugarcane, the report said.

Sowings for pulses, sunflowers and cotton have not been as harshly impacted by the shortfall in monsoon rains, and instead are seeing an increase in planting progress compared with last season.