Farmers face frost damage

Weather office's indication of likelihood of frost in northern states in the next few days has caused concern as it could jeopardise rabi production prospects.

Frost can damage the standing crops of wheat, coarse cereals, oilseeds and pulses, besides some fruit and vegetable crops.

Meteorologists are understood to have indicated in the meeting of the agriculture ministry's crop-weather watch group on Monday that the present foggy spell might give way to frost occurrence on January 8-10.

This will end hopes of a bumper rabi harvest this year despite much larger plantings, good soil moisture status and use of fertilisers and other farm inputs.

The area under wheat is estimated this season to be over 24.2 million hectares (mn.ha.), nearly 2 mn.ha. more than last year.

Acreage under rabi pulses, notably gram, has risen about 1.7 mn.ha. this year from last season's 9.8 mn.ha.. Rabi oilseeds, including rapeseed-mustard and rabi groundnut, have been planted on over 8.5 mn.ha., against last year's 7.1 mn.ha..

The agriculture ministry was expecting a record rabi harvest this time but frost for a long spell could hit production like last year.

According to weather experts, frost in north, north-west and north-east India was not uncommon in January due to cold wave causing temperatures to dip below 4 degrees Celsius.

This temperature accompanied with humidity brings white frost, forming ice crystals on plants. Low temperature on drier nights produced black frost, or frozen vegetation.

Last winter frost occurred in Punjab, Haryana, parts of Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya all through January. Delhi recorded the coldest period in 40 years in the first fortnight of January 2003.

Consequently, about 600 hectares of fruit orchards in Pubjab's Shiwalik belt and parts of UP suffered output loss of 40-100 per cent, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) said. Affected trees included mango, litchi, guava, ber and kinnow.

Among field crops, wheat was estimated to have suffered a yield loss of between 10 and 40 per cent last year in January. Loss in other crops varied from 40 to 90 per cent, the ICAR study reveals.

Agriculture experts are advising farmers to irrigate crops ahead of cold nights when frost is anticipated along with addition of phosphatic and potassic fertilisers to minimise the frost damage.

Another way to keep white frost at bay was production of smoke around the crop to prevent temperature from dropping to freezing level.