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HomeBharat NewsUnseasonal Rains And Hailstorms Damage Rabi Crops, Threaten India's Food Security.

Unseasonal Rains And Hailstorms Damage Rabi Crops, Threaten India’s Food Security.

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Unseasonal rains and hailstorms have wreaked havoc on rabi crops, especially wheat, gram, and mustard, which were ready to be harvested. On March 20, the IMD anticipated comparable weather patterns in Northwest, Central, East, and Northeast India.

The rainfall recorded in wheat-growing areas on March 18 ranged from 137 percent to 10,000 percent above normal, according to IMD data. Similarly, on March 17, excess rainfall in the same region ranged from 540 percent to 10,000 percent. The distribution of rainfall has also been erratic, as seen on March 16, when only the Etawah district received rainfall 4,900 percent above normal.

Seven out of 42 districts in Eastern UP received significant rain of 292 percent above normal on March 17. These extreme weather events may pose a threat to India’s food security as these regions are major producers of wheat.

The five states of UP, MP, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan account for 85 percent of India’s wheat production, according to the Directorate of Economics & Statistics. CP Gupta, an agriculture trader based in Kota, said that the rain severely damaged wheat and gram crops in Rajasthan. He added that harvested crops kept in fields got submerged under this rain due to the lack of storage facilities.

Praveen Parmar, a farmer from the Sehore district in MP, said that their standing crops got lodged, and the harvested crop submerged as it lay on the fields. Parmar added that the crops would face quality issues when they reach Mandis. MP-based agri-commodity expert Sachin Kochar also expressed concern over the situation, stating that the rainfall may impact the quality of the wheat crop, if not the quantity.

The harvesting of wheat in Punjab and Haryana is yet to start, but the excess rain has dampened the spirits of farmers and government agencies. Punjab and Haryana yields are the highest in the country at 5 tonnes/hectare (T/Ha), contributing to India’s buffer stock, whereas the all-India average yield is around 3.4 T/Ha.

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