Winter crop harvest under the weather after thunder, hailstorm forecast

GVA for agriculture and allied activities in 2019-20 is projected to rise at 11.3% at current prices and 3.7% at constant prices

It’s that time of the year when millions of farmers in North, Central and West India eagerly look towards the sky for any adverse weather development that can damage their much-cherished winter crop, due for harvest in the next few weeks. 

Though unseasonal rain and hailstorm in February-March are not unusual, the stakes this year are slightly higher because probably after many seasons, the market prices of several crops are better than in the previous years, kindling hope that returns in 2020 could be better than those in the last few years at least in the case of some crops. 

Gross value added (GVA) in agriculture and allied activities also points towards an improved picture.

GVA for agriculture and allied activities in 2019-20 is projected to rise at 11.3 per cent at current prices and 3.7 per cent at constant prices.

The latest forecast from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) shows on March 5 and 6, heavy rain with thunderstorm and hailstorm is expected in isolated regions of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, and west Uttar Pradesh.

The extent, spread and frequency of this rainfall in the coming weeks will determine how much the damage to standing crops is.

So far, according to the IMD, in the past 24 hours, untimely rain and hailstorm have hit only isolated pockets of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Delhi.

“In some areas, this untimely rain could be beneficial for crops if they are in the growing stage. So far we haven’t received any report of widespread damage. Also, the hailstorm to date hasn’t been severe enough to cause any unnecessary panic,” S K Malhotra, agriculture commissioner of the Government of India, told Business Standard.

But some differ.

“We have ground reports from hailstorm impacting almost 60 villages in Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh, 40 villages in Seoni, along with parts of Seedhi, Damoh, Rewa and Shahdol, so far barring Singrauli, there haven’t been reports of any big damage to standing wheat, chana and mustard crop,” said Bhagwan Meena, spokesperson and Founder Member of Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh a Madhya Pradesh – based farmers group.

He said if the weather remains benign for the next 15 days atleast in Madhya Pradesh, farmers would be saved as in most places in the state harvest has started of wheat, mustard and chana.

Wheat acreage in Madhya Pradesh has touched a record almost 8 million hectares in 2019-20, almost 33 per cent higher than 2018-19. Overall, the wheat crop has been sown in around 33.61 million hectares this year, 12.32 per cent higher than last year. 

“In Wheat I don’t see any big impact due to the rains and infact it could be beneficial for some farmers as it saves one irrigation, but yes hailstorm could be harmful, so far we haven’t got any report of any largescale damage to standing wheat crop due to the adverse weather,” said G P Singh, director of Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research.