Agriculture affected by severe heat in northern India

12-Jun-2024 12:35 PM

New Delhi. Severe heat wave continues in northern India from West Bengal and Bihar in the east to Rajasthan in the west.

Agriculture is being affected in these states due to very high temperature and lack of rain. The water level in dams and reservoirs has also come down considerably. In states like Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,

Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, sowing of Kharif crops will gain momentum only after the arrival of monsoon because at present the moisture content in the soil of the fields has decreased considerably. Sowing of cotton has been completed in Punjab.

Vegetable crops in the above states are suffering heavy losses due to severe heat. Monsoon has arrived in some parts of Maharashtra and Gujarat but heat wave continues in other areas.

Monsoon reaches Rajasthan last and also leaves first but there is often good rain due to the activity of western disturbance. Due to this, agricultural production has started improving.

Like Kerala, monsoon had reached the northeastern part of the country on 30th May but its intensity, density and mobility were very low and hence lack of rain is being felt there too. Since this time almost all the parts of the country have experienced record breaking heat,

the soil of the fields has become very hard and farmers are facing great difficulty in preparing it for sowing. Although the first fortnight of June has not passed yet, so there is enough time for sowing of Kharif crops, but if the weather had been favorable, early sowing could have been done on a large scale in the northern states.

This time the condition of South India is better where except Kerala, the remaining states have received more than normal average rainfall and it is still receiving it.

As a result, farmers there are getting good help in increasing the pace of sowing of Kharif crops.