Too early to predict any damage to wheat crop because of heat stress: Govt

The government on Tuesday said it is too early to predict any damage to the wheat crop due to heat stress in February.

In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said, "In the month of February 2023, though the maximum temperature was hovering around 32-33C in most of the northern plains, it did not impact the wheat grain growth since the crop canopy temperature can be easily modulated by 2-3C less than the air temperature by irrigation."

During March 16-22 period, he said scattered to fairly widespread light /moderate rainfall has been received over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan due to which the maximum temperatures were near normal or below normal over these parts."

"In the current scenario, it is too early to predict any damage to the wheat crop due to heat stress," Tomar said.

Wheat is the main rabi crop, harvesting of which has started in some parts of the country.

The government has projected a record wheat output of 112.2 million tonnes for the 2022-23 crop year (July-June). Wheat exports were banned in May last year to control rising prices of wheat and wheat flour (atta).