How Climate Change is Affecting India's Wheat Production Cycle, Pg18

Context:

• The Indian Ocean is warming rapidly, impacting the monsoon and delaying the kharif (summer) crop season.
• A delayed kharif season postpones the sowing of rabi crops, including wheat, which requires cooler temperatures to grow.
• Extreme heat waves during wheat harvest pose a threat to India’s second-most consumed crop after rice.

Wheat Production in India

• Wheat is primarily grown in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh.
• It is a rabi crop, sown between October-December and harvested between February-April.
• In 2024-25, the government set a wheat procurement target of 30 million tonnes for the upcoming rabi season.
• However, 2022-23 wheat production fell to 26.2 million tonnes, impacting domestic supplies.
• India banned wheat exports in 2022 due to global supply disruptions caused by the Russia-Ukraine war, leading to a rise in food prices.

Impact of Heat Waves on Wheat

1. Increased Temperatures Affect Growth Stages:

Mains Mock Question: