Rain forecast gives jitters to farmers

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, March 29

After the early advent of the summer season and rising mercury level, now, every rumbling of clouds is giving jitters to farmers on tenterhooks in the cotton belt of Punjab.

The 2-3 degree Celsius rise in the night and day temperature than normal has already caused shrinkage of wheat grain in the cotton belt where the farmers rely on late sowing varieties.

Now, every downpour carries the risk of damaging the quality of the grain.

The Meteorological Department has predicted rain in the first week of April.

The farmers in this area are worried as the rain will increase the moisture content, which will lead to the flattening of the almost ripened crop, blackening of the grain and increase fungus attack.

According to Dr KK Gill, a senior functionary in Department of Agrometrology College of Punjab Agriculture University Ludhiana, in the 13th metrology week (from March 26 to April 1), the average temperature was to rise 2-3 degree Celsius than normal.

While most of the wheat crop, sown after paddy, suffered no loss due to the high temperature as it helped in early ripening of the crop, for the late varieties of wheat, specially grown in the cotton belt of Bathinda and Mansa districts, there is an adverse impact of the high temperature with fast shrinkage of not fully developed wheat grain.

Not only in the 13th metrology week, even in the 11th and 12th week, the temperature was 2-3 degree Celsius higher than normal.

Higher temperature also accelerates leaf maturation and senescence, reducing the duration of active photosynthesis in the plant, thus hitting the grain formation, particularly in the late varieties of wheat.

Rajinder Singh Brar, joint director, Agriculture Department, said so far the loss of wheat crop in the cotton belt was limited only to shrinkage of grain in some late sown varieties but in case there was rain as per the forecast, then there runs the risk of quality loss to the crop.

While the early advent of summer season is taken as bad for wheat crop, a prolonged winter season is believed to a good sign for the wheat crop. Besides it increasing the yield, the prolonged winter season assures good quality of wheat grain.