The hot weather can spoil the health of wheat, there is a possibility of 11.21 million tonnes of production in the current rabi season

The warming mood of the weather can take a toll on the health of wheat. For the last week, the normal temperature has started weighing on the foreheads of agricultural scientists and policy regulators. There is a possibility of affecting the productivity of the crop sown in the period from the second week of December to the first week of January.

The special thing is that this weather trend is worse than last year. The area under wheat in the current crop year 2022-23 is 3.43 crore hectares. This is higher than the previous rabi season. Due to good soil moisture due to the good rains of the last monsoon and good cold throughout the season, better productivity has been estimated from the standing wheat crop in the fields. That is why according to the second advance estimate of the Ministry of Agriculture, there is a possibility of the total production of 112.1 million tonnes of wheat in the current rabi season. However, the wheat crop in the fields is in the process of ripening, and at the same time increasing temperature is threatening the productivity of the crop.

Farmers increased the area under wheat cultivation

Sensing the demand and market trends of wheat, the farmers have increased the area under wheat cultivation this time. Due to the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war last year, the price of wheat in the global and domestic markets increased throughout the year, which freed the farmers from the compulsion to sell at the minimum support price (MSP). Even in the last crop year 2021-22, the temperature at the time of ripening of the wheat crop had increased unexpectedly, due to which the total yield was reduced by six to 10 percent.

The heat of March started falling in February itself

Temperatures are on the rise in the five major wheat-producing states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, and Rajasthan, while western and central India along with the northern states has seen an early rise in mercury. The March heat started falling in February itself. Due to this, there is a danger of badly affecting the late crop of wheat.

Summer is already in full swing in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra with the temperature touching 38 to 40 degrees Celsius. KG Ramesh, former director of the Indian Meteorological Department, said surprisingly that while January was the coldest this year, February is going to be the hottest. By the end of February, no one has predicted a cooling off of the weather pattern.

Wheat grains will become thin

This time in North India, crops have been hit twice. Firstly, this time there was no rain during the winter season, whereas summer started falling before time. Professor Ramesh Kumar Singh of Banaras Hindu University says that the day temperature in Purvanchal and Bihar has reached 30 to 32 degrees Celsius. To make matters worse, the night temperature has risen to 20°C, while the ideal conditions for wheat should be 25 to 26°C during the day and 13 to 16°C at night.

Professor Singh says that increased temperature during the raw crop will not only thin the grains of wheat. The weight of 1000 wheat grains of a normal crop is 38 to 45 grams, while the weight of 1000 grains of a crop affected by terminal heat is only 28 to 30 grams. This summer is bound to have an impact on the late-sown wheat crop in the fields empty of paddy.

Wheat and barley research scientist Dr. Gyanendra told that there is no possibility of a decrease in temperature in North India. In some districts of Rajasthan and Haryana, the temperature has reached 35 degrees Celsius. However, in most places of North India, the night temperature is going below 20 degrees Celsius, which can give good results.

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