ICAR-IIWBR advisory to wheat farmers for the next fortnight
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ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research has issued an advisory to wheat farmers for the next fortnight based on the weather inputs from the Indian Meteorological Department, which has predicted a harsher summer this year.
The institute has advised farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Punjab to ensure proper moisture content for the wheat crop, the harvesting of which will start on April 10.
Farmers from central and peninsular India have been advised to ensure proper moisture (12% -13%) content at the time of harvesting. Cultivators in the northeast and northwest have been advised to apply light irrigation as per the requirement of the crop to ensure that proper soil moisture is maintained for the maturity of the crop.
India is set to experience extreme heat during the April-June period, with the central and the western peninsular parts expected to face the worst impact. However, the increase in temperatures will not have any impact on the harvest-ready wheat crop. The maximum temperatures are very likely to be above normal by 2-3 degrees Celsius over many parts of north India and the east and the west coasts, and near normal over the rest of the country, during the wheat harvesting period.
In 2023-24, the government has kept a target of 112 million tonnes of wheat production in the country. Wheat harvesting has already been completed in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, MP and in certain pockets of Rajasthan.
The Centre banned wheat exports in May 2022 to put a lid on rising wheat prices and to ensure enough supply of grain in the domestic market. In FY24, the government sold nearly 10 million tonnes of wheat through open auctions to cool the prices of the grain.
