Chandigarh, December 14
With wheat sown in 34 lakh hectares across the state high day temperature is giving farmers the jitters. At this stage it is the biting cold which promotes tillering of wheat seed which helps raise the wheat yield.
Despite having reached mid-December the region is yet to witness trademark shivering cold. According to the figures given by the meteorological centre Chandigarh compared to last year the minimum temperature since December 1 has been almost three to four degrees more.
“The prevailing high day temperatures are bound to have a negative impact on the production of the wheat crop. But we have been told by the Meteorological Department that the night temperature in the coming days is expected to go down by another 2 to 3 degrees. This should be enough to salvage the situation,” said Dr B.S. Sidhu director agriculture, Punjab.
Last year the minimum temperature fell steadily in the first week of December going down to 4.6 degrees on December 8. But this year though there was a steady decline since December 1 the temperatures rose to over 10 degrees from December 7 onwards. On December 8 this year the temperature was 11.8 degrees. The past week has been bad for the crops, admits Sidhu.
Chattar Singh Malik director in charge of meteorological centre, Chandigarh said last two days had seen a decline in the minimum temperature and the fall would continue for another few days. “However if a cloud hits the state then the minimum temperatures can again rise,” said Malik.
Encouraged by the bumper crop last season and an increase in the MSP of wheat, this year there has been further increase in the area under wheat farming. Last year total area under wheat was about 34.88 lakh hectares. This year, this figure has already reached 34.2 lakh hectares and is expected to cross 35 lakh hectares.
The farmers who had their land under potatoes, cotton and basmati cultivation are now sowing wheat and though it is delayed, experts say it is still not too late.
“To such farmers we had suggested to sow additional 10 kg of seed per acre for proper germination and tillering,” said Prof G.S. Kalkat, chairperson, Punjab State Farmers Commission adding sowing of additional seed can also help the farmer tide over the low temperature problem.
However right now all fingers are crossed for the cold. “This is the most important time for the wheat and we need a spell of real cold. The temperature can make all the difference in the per hectare productivity. The low temperatures should continue for some time,” added Santokh Singh, a farmer.
