The Associated Press

In this aerial photo by Biswaranjan Rout, farmers plant rice saplings in their fields after rains fell in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, in India’s eastern state of Orissa. The monsoon season has started slowly, with a rainfall deficiency of 23 percent for June and July, but the India Meteorological Department forecasts improvement in August and September. The rains that come each monsoon season are vital for the largely agrarian economies of South Asia, but too much can cause deadly flooding and decrease food production.

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