Good weather: Bumper wheat crop expected in Haryana
KARNAL : As the harvesting of wheat picks up in the region, agricultural experts are expecting a bumper crop this year due to favourable weather conditions.
Experts say there has been no occurrence of yellow rust in the region this year and no untimely rainfall was reported.
“This year we are expecting a bumper crop. There is a possibility that wheat production in Haryana may even cross 152 lakh tonnes of 2011-12, which was a record production in the state,” said Dr GP Singh, director, Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR), Karnal.
He said the overall wheat production in the country is likely to touch 100 million tonnes this year.
He said, “Besides favourable weather conditions, several high-yielding varieties have also been developed, which are contributing to the increase in production this year. There was no occurrence of any diseases and the crop is quite healthy.”
The farmers, who have already brought their produce to the grain markets, are happy, saying the yield of the crop this year is above 22 quintals per acre. “The yield is good this year and farmers are happy as it will help them pay off their pending debts,” said Harwant Singh, a farmer who has come to sell his crop in Karnal’s grain market.
However, the farmers feel that the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat, which has been fixed at Rs 1,735 per quintal, should have been higher as the prices of diesel and fertilisers have increased. Besides, they have to pay higher wages to labourers.
“The yield is good this year, but the MSP is not adequate in the light of the input costs. The government should at least cut the prices of diesels and fertilisers if it cannot increase the MSP,” said another farmer Desh Raj of Nilokheri.