Weak rains may hurt India fiscal year farm growth aim 

A delayed monsoon and patchy rains may hurt India's target of four percent farm output growth in the fiscal year through March 2010, a senior government official said Wednesday.

"By the end of this week, we will get a clearer picture about the net areas sown and about the likely productivity," the official, who didn't wish to be named, told Dow Jones Newswires.

In the first half of July, the net deficit in area under food grain sowing was 28 percent.

"Expectation was that it (deficient rains) will be made up by July-end. We will now have to see how much shortfall has been made up during July," he said.

India expects its economy to expand between 6.25 percent and 7.75 percent this fiscal year, aided by a robust growth in farm output.

Due to the delayed monsoon, demand for crop loans may also dwindle, the official added.