'Unseasonal rain may hit wheat production in MP'

Wheat production in ongoing rabi season in Madhya Pradesh is likely to be lower than expectation due to unseasonal rain and hailstorm, a senior agricultural officer said here today.
As per previous estimates, the state was expecting a bumper harvest of over 200 lakh tonnes, but the same is now estimated to be around 177 lakh tonnes.
"Wheat has been sown on 58.94 lakh hectares in the rabi season and we were hopeful of reaping 203 lakh tonne of harvest. But, the recent rain and hailstorm have adversely affected the crop," Mohanlal Meena, Director, Farmer Welfare and Agriculture Development Department, told PTI.

He said his department was assessing the quantum of loss caused to the crop and that a clear picture would emerge in the next couple of days.
According to Dr Akhileshnandan Mishra, Head (Indore), Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), "The regions hit by hailstorms, might incur 50 per cent or more wheat crop loss whereas the areas where rain occurred are expected to sustain 10 to 20 per cent loss."
He said farmers are likely to incur heavy loss due to the damage caused to their crops by the rain and hailstorm.
Mishra said the wheat production is estimated at three tonne per hectare and its production is likely to be around 177 lakh tonne in the sown area of 58.94 lakh hectares.

Total production of wheat, sown on the area of 58.74 lakh hectares, stood at 174.78 lakh tonne in the rabi season of 2013-14.