Mallika Dureja
New Delhi: The Centre has made an unprecedented interministerial effort to protect the country’s wheat crop, a winter mainstay that faces imminent threats from projected heatwaves due to an early summer, and has established a committee to address the issue.
Last year, a similarly devastating heat wave in March, when temperatures soared to record highs, decimated wheat harvests in the world’s second-largest wheat producer, resulting in a 2.5% decline in output and a crisis-like situation. The government, which prohibited exports of the commodity in May of last year, has predicted wheat yields of 112 million tonnes, the biggest ever.
An official stated that a large number of state-employed agronomists from institutions such as the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (crop advisory centres) have been dispatched to fields in five states to inform farmers of crop protection measures in the event of a heatwave.
According to an analysis published by HT earlier this week, temperatures in seven states, including Punjab, a major wheat-growing region, are at mid-March levels. Fears of an early and hot summer are the result of this and the impending El Nio phenomenon.
Persistent domestic consumer inflation, which reached a three-month high of 6.52 percent in January, global food shortages, the Russia-Ukraine crisis, and strained supply lines as a result of the pandemic’s repercussions continue to weigh heavily on India.
The majority of states that could experience a heatwave due to rising temperatures are in the country’s principal food bowl plain in the northwest, which includes Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. Despite its reputation as a desert state, Rajasthan is a major producer of cereals and oilseeds. It stands the greatest risk of a heat wave, according to an authority. Another major grower, Madhya Pradesh, bears the least threat because its wheat crop matures earlier than elsewhere.
The committee has begun its task. Authorities from multiple departments and ministries are cooperating with states to ensure that reservoirs and dams have sufficient water to feed canals for protective irrigation. In addition, they are inspecting diesel supply pipes and guaranteeing a consistent supply of energy, which farmers use to power pumps.
Experts from the department of animal husbandry are advising farmers on how to protect themselves and their cattle from heat strokes, urging them to support bovines with wet hay shades and ‘desert coolers,’ a type of motorised fan that disperses mist, while increasing water intake, according to a third official.
“Farmers are quite knowledgeable. They are knowledgeable. We instruct students to recall the most important details. So far, the harvest has been successful, according to Narender Goyal of Damla Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Haryana. Approximately one of these centres exists in each of India’s 766 districts.
A scientist stated that farmers must monitor their crops daily, practise mulching, which is the practise of coating soil with organic matter to reduce moisture loss, perform light watering, and monitor weather forecasts.
“There is no alarm. The crucial fact is that nights are significantly cooler than days. There is now no heatwave, merely greater temperatures. According to Gyanendra Singh of the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, evenings that are cooler are beneficial to the health of plants.
In a country where agriculture employs the biggest number of people, a successful harvest is crucial. Abundant food stocks raise rural incomes, which in turn stimulates growth-promoting consumer demand.
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According to the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) classifications, a heatwave condition is declared when the mercury rises by 4.5°C to 6.40°C for at least two days, or when the maximum temperature at an IMD weather station reaches at least 40°C or more for plains and at least 30°C or more for hilly regions. Since two weeks ago, temperatures in Punjab, Rajasthan, and Haryana have varied between 28 and 30°C.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued the first heatwave advisory of the year on Sunday, anticipating maximum temperatures of 37 to 39 degrees Celsius in sections of the Kutch and Konkan areas of western India.
El Nio refers to warmer-than-average temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, a phenomena connected with hotter summers and a weak monsoon in India. Experts agree that it is too early to speculate on this year’s monsoon.
