Prolonged winters in the northern parts of the country are likely to impact the harvesting of wheat in states including Punjab and Haryana, which is likely to get delayed this time.
Indu Sharma, director Wheat Research Institute (Karnal), says wheat harvesting in Northern states including Punjab and Haryana could be delayed by as many as seven to ten days.
Wheat harvesting in the states of Punjab and Haryana usually commences in first week of April, but in few places, especially in Southern Haryana, the arrival of wheat, as per state agriculture officials, commences in the last week of March.
Officials believe the prevailing weather conditions were good for the wheat crop as they are eyeing bumper production. However, any abrupt change in weather now onwards would be dangerous for the crop, says Sharma.
Rains and hailstorm now onwards could also pose a serious threat for the crop which was heading for maturity. Rains lashed parts of Punjab and Haryana last week as water-logging has been reported in wheat fields in a few areas of both states. However, there is no serious threat or impact on production, experts say.
IMD has predicted rainfall in the northern states, including Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, in the next 48 hours.
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While Punjab this year is eyeing a production of 16.7 million tonnes of wheat, Haryana’s target of the crop is 11.8 million tonnes.