Shimla: The dry spell has left farmers of the state worried. The weather is not favourable for wheat and rabi crops.
The sowing of rabi was done by mid-December and periodical rain was required to provide moisture to the crop, but the region received only 46 per cent rain from October 1 to December 31, 2015, while the deficit during January 2016 till January 18 was 83 per cent.
The wheat crop takes about 120 to 130 days to mature and half the period is over, but its growth is not up to the desired level and scientists fear that in case the dry spell continues for another fortnight, it may spell doom as nearly 80 per cent area under cultivation is rain-fed.
The state Agriculture Department has fixed a target of 16.19 lakh metric tonnes for 2015-16, which included 7.34 lakh metric tonnes under rabi and 8.85 lakh metric tonnes under kharif, while the target for vegetables, potato and oilseeds was 5.94 tonnes, 40,000 tonnes and 3,600 tonnes.
The department was able to meet the target last year in spite of 37 per cent deficit rain as light to moderate showers continued at regular intervals. Due to rain deficit, the moisture in the soil has evaporated.
“The absence of rain, especially in rain-fed areas, will damage the wheat crop. The leaves will turn pale gradually and the size of the grain will be affected,” said Dr Indu Sharma, director, Wheat Research Institute, Karnal. However, it would have no impact on wheat production at the national level as the area under wheat in the state was marginal, she added.
The department had distributed 71,800 tonnes of ‘yellow rust’ resistant varieties of wheat seeds against the target of 54,000 tonnes and to date, no damage from yellow rust has been reported.
The state had achieved 8.56 lakh tonnes production during the kharif season last year in spite of 28 per cent rain deficit and this year, the kharif target of 8.85 lakh tonnes has also been achieved.
Scant rain
The sowing of rabi was done by mid-December and periodical rain was required to provide moisture to the crop, but the region received only 46 per cent rain from October 1 to December 31, 2015, while the deficit during January 2016 till January 18 was 83 per cent.