February 12, 2010

The wheat harvest in India, the world's second-biggest grower, may suffer from drought in the country's western cultivation regions.

Northwest India's vegetation index, an indication of plant growth, is lower than a year ago because of stress to crops in December and January, meteorologist Gail Martell said in a report. The country had a "very poor" summer monsoon, with the lowest rainfall in 37 years, according to the report.

The Indian government is hoping for a bountiful wheat harvest to offset a serious shortage in summer rice but dry conditions in western India are tainting the outlook, Martell said.

Estimates for an Indian wheat crop of 82.4 million tonnes are "overly optimistic" because of the weather stress in the western states, according to Martell. The wheat harvest will start in central India in March and move north in April, according to the report.

Sub-par wheat yields are likely in the normally productive irrigated states of Punjab and Haryana, while Madhya Pradesh has the best potential for the grain, the meteorologist said.