Heat alert

No apparent impact, but March weather crucial for wheat

Regardless of the risks posed to the wheat crop by unusually warm weather at this time of the year, agricultural scientists have not given up hope of a good harvest, which would ease pressure on supplies and prices of this key staple cereal. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted the temperature to be two to five degrees Celsius above normal in the major wheat-growing states but only for a few days. This stress, experts feel, can be taken care of through agronomic interventions like light irrigation and field mulching. The most critical period when any abnormal spike in temperature