Cyclone Gulab damages India's summer-sown crops just before harvesting

Maharashtra, the country's second-biggest producer of soybeans, cotton, and sugar cane and top producer of summer-sown pulses, received 381% more rainfall than usual on Tuesday

Heavy rains brought by cyclone Gulab damaged India's summer-sown crops such as soybeans, cotton, pulses and vegetables just before harvesting in key growing regions, which could reduce production and lift prices, industry officials told Reuters.

Lower production could force India, the world's biggest importer of edible oils and pulses, to increase overseas purchases of these commodities, and it could also reduce cotton exports from the world's top producer.

Cyclone Gulab, which originated in the Bay of Bengal, made landfall on the east coast on Sunday and then weakened to a deep depression that brought heavy rainfall to the southern states