Double whammy for wheat growers! Early summers, heat wave conditions shrivel grain & reduce yield
India Today
The continuous dry spell and the heat wave conditions have proved to be a double whammy for wheat growers in Punjab and Haryana. The farmers say wheat grains have shrivelled and the yield has declined.
The continuous dry spell since March and the subsequent hot weather conditions have proved to be a double whammy for the Punjab and Haryana wheat growers who are facing shrivelled wheat grains and a declined yield.
The rain deficit, estimated at around 99 per cent by the Met Department, is responsible for the decline in the yield causing severe losses.
"This year, during the winter time in the months of January and February, there was excessive rain, but from March onwards there was no rain, especially in the plains, including Punjab and Haryana, which experienced a continuous dry spell. If you look at the total rainfall, only a few millimetres were recorded and a deficit of 99 per cent has been recorded. There was no active Western disturbance in these plains" says Manmohan Singh, a Chandigarh-based Met Department scientist.
The Met department said the month of March was the warmest in the past 10 to 12 years. Temperatures started rising in April. The temperatures in March and April this year were six to eight and four to six degrees above the normal temperatures, respectively."No significant rain is expected in the days to come, while from April 28 onwards we are expecting heatwave conditions. We have also issued the warning. The heat wave conditions will continue during the next seven-eight days," Singh said.
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The Punjab Agriculture Department officials blamed the dry spell and heat wave conditions for the shrivelled grains and a reduce in yield. The heat wave conditions, according to the officials, shortened the window of wheat crop ripening. Normally, the harvest season is over by mid May.
"The heat spell occurred very fast and also matured the crop at a faster pace, which shrivelled the grain size. This also resulted in a drop in yield," says JDS Gill, Agriculture Information Officer, Punjab.
