India monitors threat to wheat crop amid severe heat risk

The meteorological department has issued a warning of unusually high temperatures

Wheat is packed into sacks outside Ahmedabad. India will give irrigation advice as a lack of winter rain threatens its wheat harvest. Reuters

India has formed a panel to assess how temperature increases will affect its wheat crop after the federal weather agency forecast another spell of abnormal heat this year.

The country's Meteorological Department issued a warning on Monday that unusually high temperatures were being recorded in much of the country's west and north-west.

India is the world's second-biggest wheat producer after China.

The crop is planted in October and November, and harvested from March.

However, a lack of winter rain has driven up temperatures in some parts of India's northern states where wheat is mostly grown, triggering threats of a severe heatwave and crop damage.

The panel will be headed by the federal agriculture commissioner and comprise officials from the country's key wheat-growing states and government scientists who will issue advice to farmers on the adoption of micro-irrigation techniques.

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Agricultural Secretary Manoj Ahuja said the committee would monitor the situation.

Last week, the average daily temperature rose to levels normally experienced in early to mid-March, according to weather officials.

The capital, New Delhi, recorded a temperature of 33.6ºC on Monday, the highest since 2006, with the mercury expected to hover around 33ºC on Tuesday.

The weather agency issued a heatwave warning for the next two days in Kutch district, in western Gujarat.

“This higher day temperature might lead to adverse effects on wheat approaching the reproductive growth period, which is sensitive to temperature. High temperature during flowering and maturing periods leads to loss in yield,” it said.

India banned wheat exports in May after a severe heatwave damaged crops and triggered a domestic shortage that pushed up prices after global supplies were disrupted as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

It has been scorching hot across several parts of the country, with temperatures in New Delhi rising beyond 43°C, surpassing a record set last year when India had its hottest March in about 75 years.

The government has estimated a record wheat harvest of 112.18 million tonnes for this financial year