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Untimely rain to reduce wheat yield by 3 per cent

Chandigarh: The unseasonal rain and hailstorm would impact the wheat yield in Punjab and Haryana, with both the States expecting yield loss of 3-5 per cent in wheat crop this year, a senior official of Punjab Agriculture Department said.

“Earlier, because of prolonged cold conditions, we were expecting improvement in wheat yield to 43-44 quintals per hectare from last year’s yield of 42 quintals,” he said, adding “but with the recent inclement weather conditions, we are now feeling that the yield would now restrict to 42 quintals per hectare.”

Punjab is still determined to achieve the targeted wheat output of 145 lakh tons in the current season, despite the unseasonal rain adversely impacting the yield of the crop.

Similarly, Haryana is also anticipating the wheat yield of 40.65 quintals per hectare against the earlier target of 42.50 quintals.

The widespread damage of crop has forced Haryana to lower the wheat output estimates to 100.55 lakh tons as against the target of 102 lakh tons in Rabi season. “The damage to the crop is quite extensive which would impact the wheat production in the State as well,” revealed an official of Haryana Agriculture department.

The major impact would be visible in Ferozepur, Mansa, Jalandhar, Amritsar districts of Punjab.

In Haryana, wheat crop in an area of one lakh hectares in Jind, Hissar, Rohtak, Fatehabad and Sirsa would be affected, the official pointed out.

The government is also conducting a survey of the fields in order to find out the exact loss of the wheat crop, he said. -- PTI

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