Wheat harvest will be delayed in the states of Haryana and Punjab due to the latest spell of unseasonal rain in North India. The wheat harvest is expected to be delayed by a week or even more. Moreover, this has raised the prospect of fungal diseases namely black point, which could affect the quality of the produce.
Till now, there have not been any reports of the outbreak of the disease. The symptoms of the infection will only be known after the harvest. The harvest was expected to be done roughly around April 15, but due to unseasonal rains and clouding, the harvest is expected to start by April 20. The farmers will wait for the crop to dry before harvesting them. Unseasonal rains have also resulted in the fall of wheat production by 2%.
If farmers do not wait for the crops to dry they will have to bear more losses. Large parts of the areas producing wheat in Haryana and Punjab have been affected by fresh rains, caused by a Western Disturbance. In the recent weeks, rain coupled with hailstorms have caused damage to the wheat crop in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh.
