Sudden rise in day temperature has the wheat growers of the state worried. 

Agriculture experts are of the view that the rise in the temperature at this stage is harmful to the wheat as it could affect the growth of the grain. As per reports from the meteorological department, the maximum temperature in most parts of Haryana has reached around 24 degrees Celsius, and the minimum is hovering at around 10 degrees Celsius. 

Even the weather forecast predicts warmer days ahead, and there are no predictions of early rains. 

“The ongoing weather is not good for the wheat crop as it could affect the growth of the grain. If this ongoing weather condition persists for the next couple of days it will have a negative impact on the yield”, said Dr Narender Goyal of Damla Krishi Vigyan Kendra. 

“Generally temperature used to increase in the first or second week of March but this time, it has become hot in February itself. Now it remains to be seen how much it affects the yield,” he added. 

Karam Chand, deputy director of agriculture in Kaithal district said, “Yes, such hot weather is harmful to the wheat crop, especially for the lateral varieties, and we will issue an advisory to the farmers if the weather conditions last for the next couple of days”. 

Even the farmers said that the sudden change in the weather in the past one week was a worrisome trend. 

“The weather is hot for the past few days. Since there were no rains in the winter and this is going to have a bad impact on the wheat crop as the crop is in the milking and flowering stage,” said a farmer Sunil Kumar of Karnal’s Gharaunda. 

Following favourable weather conditions in the past few months, scientists of the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR), Karnal, were hopeful of a bumper wheat crop. They believed that the country’s wheat production may break all previous records and reach over 112 million tonnes. 

Last year also scientists had predicted that the wheat output may touch 112 million tonnes but inclement weather and an early heatwave in March had affected both early and late varieties, resulting in the yellowing and shrivelling of wheat grain in northern states of the country. The overall production of wheat reached 106.84 million tonnes, reporting a dip of 2.75 million tonnes, as compared to 109.59 million tonnes estimated during the 2020-21 season. 

IIWBR-Karnal director Gyanendra Singh said, “Even though there is a rise in the day’s temperature, the nights are cooler. If the night’s temperature remains below 15 degrees Celsius it will not have any major impact on the crop yield. But weather should remain below 30 degrees Celsius, and there is a possibility of change in weather in the next few days.”

Source - https://www.hindustantimes.com