Widespread overnight rains and a dip in temperature in country’s key wheat producing States of Punjab and Haryana will boost the wheat crop, easing concerns about the adverse impact of unusual warm weather on the crop, officials and experts told The Hindu on Saturday.
The showers during the past 24 hours have been widespread and ended the long dry spell in parts Punjab and Haryana besides, it has brought down the mercury as well — a good sign for the “'temperature sensitive” wheat crop, they said.
“Rain has come at a good time easing out concerns regarding dip in productivity of wheat crop due to unusual warm weather in the past few days... It will benefit the wheat crop immensely and if the weather remains conducive in coming days, we can expect a bumper production this year,” P. S. Rangi, an agriculture expert and Punjab State Farmers Commission adviser, told The Hindu .
“These showers have helped in bringing down the temperatures. Wheat is a temperature sensitive crop and needs cold conditions to thrive. These rains will help in improving photosynthesis and eventually its growth,” he said.
A long dry spell, since October 2016 coupled with unusually warm weather had raised concerns among experts and farmers about falling wheat yields in the both these States, which have sown wheat on nearly 35 lakh hectares and over 25 lakh hectares respectively during the ongoing Rabi season. Both States are major contributors of wheat to the central pool.
“Punjab and Haryana are experiencing widespread rains since Friday due to fresh western disturbance... Minimum temperature has come down and in next few days it is likely to fall further and will remain near normal or below normal,” said Surinder Pal, director at the India Meteorological Department, Chandigarh.
Notably, minimum and maximum temperatures have been hovering 2°C to 4°C above normal at many places in parts of Punjab during the past few days. IMD in its first ever winter forecast had predicted that seasonal temperatures across the country, from December to February, would be higher than normal with fewer cold waves over north and north-west India than what is typical.
“These are welcome showers. It would not only boost the productivity of wheat but will also help is curbing incidences of disease such as yellow rust,” said Jasbir Singh Bains, Director, Punjab Agriculture department.
Wheat, the main Rabi (winter) crop is sown between late October till December while harvest will start from April.
