NEW DELHI Reuters Ample monsoon rains have accelerated the planting of summersown rice in India, according to the latest farm ministry data, after a slow start to the sowing season that began in June.

Cropnourishing monsoon rains picked up in July and August, allowing farmers to plant 32.8 million hectares 81 million acres with rice by Friday, up 5.1 from the same period last year.

An increase in rice planting in India, the world39;s secondbiggest producer of the grain, will ease concerns that supplies could be squeezed after New Delhi, in a surprise move late last month, ordered a halt to its largest rice export category.

India39;s decision to ban overseas shipments of nonbasmati white rice pushed prices to multiyear highs, as trade and industry officials believe shipments by the world39;s largest exporter of the grain could be halved.

Farmers typically start planting rice, corn, cotton, soybeans, sugarcane, peanuts and other crops from June 1, when crucial summer monsoon rains are expected to begin drenching the country where nearly half the farmland lacks irrigation.

India39;s monsoon rains were 5 above average over June and July as a whole, but had fallen 10 below normal in June before rebounding to 13 above average the following month.

The weather office defines average, or normal, rainfall as between 96 and 104 of a 50year average of 87 cm 35 inches for the fourmonth season.

The delayed arrival and lower rainfall in June, especially in some southern, eastern…