New Delhi: A record-breaking heatwave in India exposing hundreds of millions to dangerous temperatures is damaging the country’s wheat harvest. The heatwave is hitting India’s main wheat-growing regions particularly hard, with temperatures this week set to hit 112 F in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh; 120 F in Chandigarh, Punjab; and 109 F in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
On the rising temperature in several states of the country, experts said, “The maximum temperature at the Safdarjung Observatory — Delhi’s base station — settled at 40.8 degrees Celsius on Tuesday and a heatwave will see it soaring to 44 degrees Celsius by Thursday.”
India’s wheat exports hit 8.7 million tons in the fiscal year ending in March, with the government predicting record production levels — some 122 million tons — in 2022.
But the country has just endured its hottest March since records began, according to the India Meteorological Department, and the heatwave is dragging well into harvest time.
Devendra Singh Chauhan, a farmer from Uttar Pradesh’s Etawah district, told the media that his wheat crop was down 60 percent compared to normal harvests.
(Smit Soni)
