The Hindu : National : Rising temperatures might affect standing wheat crop

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 16, 2006

National

National

Rising temperatures might affect standing wheat crop

Gargi Parsai

ICAR advises States to keep fields moist

NEW DELHI: Concerned over the adverse effect the rising temperatures might have on the standing rabi wheat crop in the Indo-Gangetic regions of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, the Indian Council of Agriculture Research has advised farmers to keep the wheat fields moist. At a time when wheat stocks in the Food Corporation of India godowns are precariously low and wheat prices are skyrocketing, this does not augur well for wheat production. Already the government has had to import 5 lakh tonnes of wheat to contain prices in the open market.

ICAR's Deputy Director-General J.S. Samra on Tuesday wrote to Agriculture Directors of the wheat growing States to advise farmers to do frequent irrigation of their fields. The temperature rise of between 3 to 5 degrees Centigrade in the last few days might affect the quality of the grain. The Agriculture Ministry and the scientists are keeping a close watch on the situation.

According to experts, the standing crop is at two stages: the early sown variety in Punjab, where tillering is complete, is at the vegetative phase and will mature a week early. In western Uttar Pradesh, however, the wheat is sown a fortnight later after sugarcane harvest. This wheat is still at the tillering stage. Wheat harvest begins in Madhya Pradesh by the middle of the next month.

Untimely high temperatures reduce the moisture content and affect the grain quality.

A similar situation last year had resulted in fall in the expected levels of wheat production. Besides, frequent irrigation causes overdrawal and higher power consumption.

Speaking to The Hindu , a senior official of the Punjab Agriculture Department said, "We are keeping our fingers crossed along with the farmers. We have asked them to do light and frequent irrigation. We just hope it rains by the end of the week."

While the wheat acreage has gone up this year, there has been a slight drop in the coverage in Punjab this year. As a result, the State's production target is set at 146.2 lakh tonnes as against the output of 146.98 lakh tonnes last year.

The target for procurement too is lower this year from Punjab at 85 lakh tonnes compared to 90 lakh tonnes last year. Haryana's procurement target is 42 lakh tonnes and Uttar Pradesh's 25 lakh tonnes. Last year Uttar Pradesh had procured only about 5 lakh tonnes.

The target set for wheat procurement this year is 162 lakh tonnes. Wheat production is expected to be between 73 and 75 million tonnes.

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