The South West monsoon is likely to start withdrawing from North Western parts of the country in three to fours days, the India Meteorological Department said on Tuesday. "Conditions are becoming favorable for withdrawal of South West monsoon from some parts of West Rajasthan during next three-four days," IMD said, according to Reuters.

The withdrawal has been pushed back by nearly two weeks this year; the monsoon usually recedes in the first week of September. This year, India received 5% less rainfall than normal in the monsoon.

The South West monsoon, which brings in about 70% of the annual rainfall in India, is crucial for the millions of farmers in India who depend on the these showers for their sugarcane, cotton, corn, rice and soybean crops as a result of lack of irrigation facilities. According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, 105.4 million hectares of crops sown in the summer were cultivated till September 9 – 4.1% higher than that last year.