Oilseed sowing in India's key growing regions is in full swing following a good start to the monsoon, which is expected to advance into the northern region in coming days, officials said on Wednesday.

Farmers have started sowing soybean in the largest growing state of Madhya Pradesh after the region received widespread rainfall in the past week.

"Sowing of soybean should be completed in the next 10 days," said Atul Chaturvedy, vice president of Adani Exports Ltd, the country's leading trading firm.

Traders said groundnut sowing is nearly complete in most areas, including the largest growing state of Gujarat.

"Farmers were waiting with farms ready for sowing, and it is all done now in most areas," said Gagan Gulati, a leading Ahmedabad-based trader.

Traders said the area under soybean and groundnut, the country's main winter oilseed crops, is expected to rise due to attractive oilseed prices last year and a forecast of a near-normal monsoon.

India's winter oilseeds are normally grown over about 15.5 million hectares, including more than 5.5 million hectares under groundnut and at least six million hectares under soybean.

"It is too early to say by how much the area has gone up, but we are getting reports from all over that sowing has been very good this year," Gulati said.

But good groundnut and soybean production would depend on the even distribution of the monsoon, which runs from June to September.

India's oilseed output was badly hit last year as the country suffered from the worst drought in 15 years, with the country receiving virtually no rainfall in the crucial month of July.

India's oilseeds output in the 2002-03 (November-October) crop season has been forecast at 16.13 million tonnes, sharply lower from last year's 20.24 million due to the lack of monsoon rains, traders said.

Weather officials in New Delhi said the progress of the four-month monsoon was satisfactory and was expected to advance into the northern region.

"So far, it has been satisfactory. It is expected to cover Delhi in one week," a spokesman of India Meteorological Department said.

The southwest monsoon is the lifeline of the economy and usually hits the southern coast on June 1. This year it arrived a week late.