Continued cloudy weather leaves farmers worried

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, February 17

Farmers in the region are a worried lot as the cloudy weather prevalent for the past few days and forecast of the same weather conditions in the coming days as well spells doom for the wheat crop.

“Since the cloudy weather began, there is a threat of aphid and yellow rust attack on the wheat crop. If this unfavourable weather continues, it will affect production,” said Jagdeep Singh, a farmer in Golewala village of Faridkot.

While the farmers are apprehensive of the high moisture content and cloudy weather condition causing loss to their wheat crop, agriculture experts said after the rain this week, fall in mercury and extension of winter season will help in offsetting the farmers’ losses.

Low temperature in February and early March, which is the milking stage of the crop, is highly beneficial. Moreover, low temperature in February is beneficial for the late sown wheat crop as there is risk of these varieties facing problem of early shrinkage of grain at milking stage due to sudden rise in temperature in the first week of March, said Swatantra Singh, Director, Agriculture Department.

As clouds keep hovering in the sky, the absence of adequate sunlight is adversely affecting the photosynthesis of the wheat and there is the threat of increased attack of aphid and yellow rust on the wheat crop in the coming days, the farmers feared.

Jasbir Singh Bains, former director of the Agriculture Department, said while yellow rust was a common fungal disease in wheat and affects the stems, leaves and grains of these plants, the prolonged cloudy weather had increased the chances of wheat getting infested with aphids at the growing stages, when both the adults and nymphs take a heavy toll by sucking cell sap, which reduces the vitality of the plants.

“The loss or benefit of the rain and cloudy weather conditions will be estimated next week. If there is more rain, then the loss will be more with the flattening of the standing crop. In case there is no rain and mercury remains at low ebb, it will help in improving the wheat grain quality and it weight,” said Avtar Singh, a farmer of Kameana village in Faridkot.