oppn parties Wheat Woes Show India Needs To Make Agriculture Climate Resilient

Story Of The Day

The Sensex Did Not Crash. Its Closing Auction Did Its Job Too Well.

September 02, 2026

People Are Talking About

People Are Talking About the Language of Gen Z

News Snippets

  • Calcutta HC asks why are MPs facing egg-pelting, in the mohua Moitra case, allows the MP to enter her constituency with police protection
  • Police find fingerprints and other evidence of both the two accused and the rape survivor inside the bus in the Delhi gang rape case
  • Abhishek Upadhyay, the journalist who exposed the embezzlement of Ram Mandir funds, has sought Supreme Court help as Ghaziabad Police have sought his digital footprint from X. He claimed that such information will compromise the sources who provided him the information
  • Supreme Court quashes 127 FIRs in 5 states against students who took part in CJP stir. In repsonse, CJP cancels the September 5 march from India Gate to Delhi Police headquarters
  • TCS buys Best Buy's GCC operations in India, pips Accenture to the post in a deal worth around Rs 2000cr
  • To avoid stiff tariff, Aun Pharma offers to supply cheaper drugs at Most Favoured Nation pricing to US Medicaid programme
  • 5-member NCLT bench stays Subhash Chandra's Rs 6.5cr repayment order
  • Reliance entered the icecream space by launching Bombay Creamery
  • Copyright office rejects AI system as artwork author, says Parliament needs to make the legal position clear
  • GST collection jumps 15% in August to Rs 199853cr on the back of 29% jump in tax from imports
  • Asian Games: Japan Cricket Association says participating cricketing teams can arrange their own hotels as the Games are not directly under JCA
  • T20s versus Afghanistan: Bumrah and Samson return, Hardik still unfit. Sooryavanshi keeps his place
  • Duleep Trophy: South Zome have upper hand in the other semifinal
  • Duleep Trophy: East Zone beat Central Zone by four wickets to enter the final
  • PM Modi asks youth to make social media content on drug abuse
Duleep Trophy: South Zone beat North Zone by 7 wickets to set up the final clash with East Zone ////// Air Marshall (Retd) Jeetendra Sharma appointed the first CEO of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya
oppn parties
Wheat Woes Show India Needs To Make Agriculture Climate Resilient

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-04-22 02:24:33

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

The intense heat in the second half of March has spoiled India's hopes of a record wheat crop. The period when the crop was ready to accumulate nutrients and needed ambient temperature for the process turned hostile with the mercury shooting up beyond 40 degree Celsius in the wheat belt. This resulted in sub-standard grains and burn-out as the crop ripened prematurely and the grains got shriveled. The estimate was for an all-time high production of 111.32 million tonnes (mt) of wheat but the picture now is that the production will be less than 100MT. This is a sharp drop and will impact procurement which is already behind as private buyers are picking up wheat at MSP in the hope of exporting the same to fill the gap caused by US-led sanctions on Russia.

The situation being witnessed this year is likely to become the new normal. Climate change will push up temperatures in March, making it difficult for the wheat crop to survive. It also shows why there are other factors apart from good monsoons which impact production. India will have look at ways to make agriculture climate resilient by introducing drought-resistant seeds and looking at changing cropping pattern as per availability of water, as monsoon will also start playing truant due to climate change. These are things that need to be prioritized now as there is no time to waste.

As for food security, the arithmetic for procurement does not look rosy this year. India might just about manage to maintain its buffer norms after distribution under the public distribution system and the free grain being given away under PMGKAY. This is a cause for worry as a few consecutive years of low wheat crops would result in year-end stocks falling below the buffer norms. But the response to this should not be to ban exports. The government must keep up its procurement process going and let private players buy from the market. As long as procurement targets are maintained, if the private sector is able to export the grains it will be good. Otherwise, that stock will also come into the domestic market. The government must let market dynamics play out while maintaining procurement targets and deciding on policy to make agriculture climate resilient. 

picture courtesy: informistmedia.com

Other Stories You Make Like

Editorials

7.8% GDP Growth Is Good News.

7.8% GDP Growth Is Good News.

 Accountability Cannot Be a Precondition to Debate

Accountability Cannot Be a Precondition to Debate

In Depth

The Taxman's Doppelganger: How India's ITR Filing Deadline Became a Phishing Season

The Taxman's Doppelganger: How India's ITR Filing Deadline Became a Phishing Season

Editor's Pick

Kangana Ranaut's War on 'Generation Gutter'

Kangana Ranaut's War on 'Generation Gutter'
© 2014 India Commentary. All rights reserved.