January 11, 2010

Indian farmers hope to recover paddy loss through wheat

Following a difficult time with their paddy crop, which had to be harvested using underground water due to the lack of rains, farmers in India are now expecting to make up for it with a bumper rabi wheat yield.

The cold wave and dense fog across the northern states of India are deemed beneficial for the crops, especially wheat. 

According to India's chief agriculture officer, B S Sohal, there have been stray incidents of frost bite affecting vegetable crops and decay of wheat due to extreme cold and dew. He added that the ongoing weather is favorable in terms of temperature for wheat but sunshine during the day would be preferred as fog could make the crop disease-prone.

Meanwhile, a farmer in Sangrur who has sown wheat on eight acres of land, said he is hopeful that his production cost will not rise for the wheat crop, and the tillering (number of shoots per plant) would also increase in the current weather conditions.