Monsoon covers entire India ahead of schedule: weather office

India's monsoon has covered the entire country, the weather office said on Friday, more than two weeks ahead of the normal schedule in a year that is forecast to see below average rains. The revival of monsoon rains in the grain bowl of northwest and central regions should help speed up the sowing of main summer crops such as rice, corn, soybeans and cotton. Rains are vital to India's farm sector, which accounts for about 15 percent of the country's nearly $2 trillion economy.