Significance of Wheat in the Indian Economy & Effect of Heatwaves on Wheat Yield

Wheat is the second most important cereal crop. It is the main food crop, in the north and north-western parts of the country. India is an important producer of wheat in the world. It is followed by China and USA. 

Latest Context: While the world is expecting India to fill up the gap in the global wheat supply caused because of the Ukraine Russia war, the wheat yields in the northern states of India have been hit by heatwave, affecting both quality and weight of output.

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Effect of Heatwaves on Wheat Yield

• Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are the major wheat producing states in India. The cultivators of these regions said that per-acre yields have fallen by 10-15%.
• The heatwave conditions in the march have shrivelled the grains when the crop was in the advanced ripening stage. This affected both the quality and weight of output.
• The government of India has set a target of exporting 10 million tonnes in the year 2022-23. Now the target is difficult to achieve with the early onset of summer and the high temperatures in March.
• Extreme dry and hot weather before wheat harvest will lead to a condition known as terminal-heat stress that weakens crop health. This kind of situation last occurred in 2010 in Punjab, when wheat yields dropped 26%.

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Significance of Wheat to the Indian Economy

• Wheat is the second most important cereal crop. It is the main food crop, in the north and north-western parts of the country. India is the second-largest producer of wheat, with a share of around 14% of the world’s total production.
• India produces around 110 MT of wheat annually. A major chunk of it goes towards domestic consumption.
• India accounts for less than 1% of world wheat export. With the export market left struggling with a gap in supply due to the Ukraine war, India is looking to export wheat to countries such as Egypt, Turkey, Philippines and a few African and European nations(Ukraine and Russia account for around 25% of global wheat exports).

Some Important Facts about Wheat

• Wheat is basically a subtropical crop grown in winter in India. It is grown in rabi crop season, while paddy is sown in Kharif season. Wheat ranks second after Paddy crop, having about 13 per cent of the total cropped area under it. 
• Wheat requires cool weather with moderate rainfall. It grows well in the northern plains of India during winter when the mean temperature is between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius. Well drained, loamy soil is ideal for wheat cultivation. It requires 50 to 75 cm of annual rainfall, evenly distributed over the growing season.
• There are two important wheat-growing zones in the country – the Ganga-Satluj plains in the northwest and the black soil region of the Deccan. Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana are major wheat producing states in India. 
• Other important wheat growing states are Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
• Green revolution has contributed to the growth of wheat production in India.
• Macro Management Mode of Agriculture, National Food Security Mission and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana are a few government initiatives that support wheat cultivation.

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