Continuous heatwaves in India affect wheat production in major growing areas. Government warns output can be 6% below the estimated value.
The heatwaves in the country are not just affecting our daily activities. But the authorities fear that wheat production this year will be affected by the heatwaves prevailing in India. India, the second biggest producer of wheat is likely to fall short of the wheat production in 2022. The second rise in temperature records the hottest march in the last 122 year.
Such a rise in temperature could result in shortage of supply for export of the grain. Further, this is accompanied by the rise in prices of essential commodities due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
During the war, India exported 7.85 million tonnes of wheat in the fiscal year up to March. The export was 275% more than previous year. Further, traders and government saw an opportunity to export 12 million tonnes in the current fiscal year. In mid-February, government prepared to harvest a record making 111.32 million tonnes of wheat, where in the previous year it harvested 109.59 million tonnes.
However, due to the extreme heatwave in the country, the output is expected to fall short to a great extent. The government has not disclosed the estimates but according to Reuters, the output will fall short of 105 million tonnes.
Increasing temperature and heatwaves
The month of March of year 2022 marks the hottest march in last 122 years in the nation. The maximum lowest temperature recorded 33.1 degrees Celsius.
A government official said, “We’ve some initial ideas about the estimates but it is too soon to comment and understand the crop loss due to heat conditions in the country.”
Another official source stated, “It’s a dynamic situation. At this stage, we cannot comment about the crop size. So, we must wait and closely examine the situation to see a clearer picture.” He further stated, “Based on the production estimates issued by the government in February, we could have easily exported much more than 12 million tonnes, but it now looks like we’ll be exporting around 10 million tonnes.”
Published by: Diwakar Kumar
Edited by: Aaradhana Singh
