India’s wheat output will not suffer because of increased temperatures, as the crop nearing harvest in the top producing states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh has passed the stage where it was vulnerable to the change in weather, said the head of a top government research institute.
Gyanendra Pratap Singh of the Directorate of Wheat Research at Karnal, Haryana, predicted production of the grain this crop year to be an all-time high at 97-98 million tonnes, or even to touch 100 million mark.
A bumper rabi production should ease the pressure on household budgets and boost consumer spending. A sudden increase in temperatures in the past week had raised fears that the wheat crop may take a hit.
“I don’t think that the increase in temperature will hit wheat crop production as the critical stage is over,” Singh told ET. In some parts of Haryana, farmers have started harvesting the crop, he added.
Singh said he would have been worried if temperatures had risen 20-25 days ago when the wheat grain was in the ‘milk stage’. “In 36-37 degree Celsius temperatures, the grain would have shrivelled and it would have been a matter of concern. But as of now, the wheat grain is bold and filled up and the crop is good,” he said. The agriculture ministry in its second advance estimate pegged wheat production at a record 96.64 million tonnes, an increase of 4.71% from the previous year. The country ha ..
Ajay Vir Jakhar, chairman of Bharat Krishak Samaj, an advocacy group working with farmers, will be harvesting his wheat crop starting April 20 in Punjab and said he expected a “fantastic harvest” of 55 quintals per hectare. He sees the talk of lopwer output as a propaganda by importers.
“The more-than-normal hot weather in the first week of April will only impact late-sown wheat (planted in end December-January) and that too in areas where harvest is due, like in Punjab. This does not warrant any reason to panic and we insist on increasing import duty on wheat to 30%, as area under wheat has increased and we can expect higher crop than the previous year,” he said.
According to the Agriculture ministry statistical data, wheat planting at the end of the season on February 3 covered 31.781million hectares.
Currently, wheat harvesting is almost over in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. From April 10, harvesting will pick up in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
In Punjab and Haryana, we expect average yields to be 48 quintals per hectare while in some places yields can go as high as 70 quintals per hectare. However, the average yield in the country is 31 quintals,” said Singh of the wheat research institute. Singh said he travelled across the north-west plains in the past fortnight and saw yields to be good.
Gyanendra Pratap Singh of the Directorate of Wheat Research at Karnal, Haryana, predicted production of the grain this crop year to be an all-time high at 97-98 million tonnes, or even to touch 100 million mark.
A bumper rabi production should ease the pressure on household budgets and boost consumer spending. A sudden increase in temperatures in the past week had raised fears that the wheat crop may take a hit.
“I don’t think that the increase in temperature will hit wheat crop production as the critical stage is over,” Singh told ET. In some parts of Haryana, farmers have started harvesting the crop, he added.
Singh said he would have been worried if temperatures had risen 20-25 days ago when the wheat grain was in the ‘milk stage’. “In 36-37 degree Celsius temperatures, the grain would have shrivelled and it would have been a matter of concern. But as of now, the wheat grain is bold and filled up and the crop is good,” he said. The agriculture ministry in its second advance estimate pegged wheat production at a record 96.64 million tonnes, an increase of 4.71% from the previous year. The country ha ..
Ajay Vir Jakhar, chairman of Bharat Krishak Samaj, an advocacy group working with farmers, will be harvesting his wheat crop starting April 20 in Punjab and said he expected a “fantastic harvest” of 55 quintals per hectare. He sees the talk of lopwer output as a propaganda by importers.
“The more-than-normal hot weather in the first week of April will only impact late-sown wheat (planted in end December-January) and that too in areas where harvest is due, like in Punjab. This does not warrant any reason to panic and we insist on increasing import duty on wheat to 30%, as area under wheat has increased and we can expect higher crop than the previous year,” he said.
According to the Agriculture ministry statistical data, wheat planting at the end of the season on February 3 covered 31.781million hectares.
Currently, wheat harvesting is almost over in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. From April 10, harvesting will pick up in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
In Punjab and Haryana, we expect average yields to be 48 quintals per hectare while in some places yields can go as high as 70 quintals per hectare. However, the average yield in the country is 31 quintals,” said Singh of the wheat research institute. Singh said he travelled across the north-west plains in the past fortnight and saw yields to be good.