India's annual monsoon rains have begun days ahead of schedule.
The India Meteorological Department said the rains covered the whole country Sunday. Monsoon rains battered villages in northeast India in June, a government relief agency said on Friday.
The "normal" date for the country-wide rains is July 8, according to weather forecasters.
India depends on the heavy rains for crop production on the country's farms.
Reuters reports that nearly half of India's farmland lacks irrigation.
The monsoon also refill India's reservoirs and provide much needed relief from the summer heat.