Untimely rains in the last four days has resulted in lodging of the rabi crops, such as wheat and mustard, in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh which is likely to adversely impact yield and quality of crops.
Experts say that harvesting of wheat and mustard is likely to be delayed because of recent rains.
Rains accompanied by gusty winds and hailstorm hit several districts across the north, west, central and southern regions of the country, impacting crops which will be ready for harvest in the next 10 days or so.
According to Gurvinder Singh, director, agriculture, Punjab, 0.4 million hectare (MH) out of total wheat sown area of 3.4 MH in the state has been adversely impacted by the recent rains and there is likelihood of drop in output by around 2 – 5%. Some areas under mustard cultivation have also been impacted.
Wheat sown in Patiala, Sangrur, Barnala and Fatehgarh Sahib districts in Punjab has been impacted by recent rains while standing crops in several districts of Haryana have witnessed water logging which could delay the harvests.
“The standing crops would get more time to mature and more rains may impact the overall yield of wheat,” Singh told FE by stating the harvesting of wheat in large scale will commence from April 10.
Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday said as preliminary assessment there has not been much impact on standing rabi crops like wheat due to the recent rains and hailstorm. “There is not much impact on rabi crops as per the preliminary assessment. We are yet to receive a ground report from the state governments,” Tomar said.
The agriculture ministry has estimated a record wheat output of 112.2 million tonne (MT) for the 2022-23 crop year (July-June). The mustard seed production is estimated at a record 12.8 MT in the 2022-23 crop year.
A food ministry official, after surveying wheat sown areas of Madhya Pradesh, said that there has not been a large-scale impact of rains on wheat crops, but moisture content in the wheat will be higher than the norm for procurement by agencies such as Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state government entities. “We have to relax the norm for procurement of wheat this season as moisture content in wheat would be high because of rains,” the official said.
The Madhya Pradesh government on Tuesday decided to reopen the registration window for the wheat procurement during March 22-24. This season so far 1.5 million farmers have registered for the procurement and an estimated 7 MT of wheat will be purchased by the state agencies from March 25.
“Because of quality issue associated with wheat to be harvested, private players may shun mandi purchases which will allow government agencies to purchase grain in substantial quantity,” Mukesh Khatod, a trader from Chittorgarh mandi, Rajasthan, said.
Earlier in the month, at the meeting of food ministers of key wheat growing states, the government estimated a procurement of 34.15 MT of wheat in the rabi marketing season 2023-24 (April-June) in the 10 producing states. The procurement by FCI and state agencies commences on April 1.
The Uttar Pradesh government has initiated surveys to assess compensating farmers, while Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana governments are reviewing the current crop conditions.
India Meteorological Department on Tuesday predicted a fresh spell of rainfall and thunderstorm over Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and western Rajasthan during March 23-24.
The Met department has also advised farmers of Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana to postpone harvesting.
Assam farmers have been asked to postpone harvesting of fruits and vegetables and move the already harvested produce to safer places immediately.