Monsoon Impacts Basmati Crop, New Heat-Tolerant Wheat Variety Developed Amidst Indian Agricultural Reforms
The Indian agriculture sector is currently facing mixed fortunes, with environmental challenges impacting key crops while scientific advancements and policy reforms aim to bolster resilience and output. Recent heavy rainfall and floods in Punjab and Haryana have severely damaged Basmati rice crops, a staple and significant export commodity, resulting in a notable increase in its market prices. This highlights the vulnerability of agricultural output to unpredictable weather patterns.
However, there's positive news on the innovation front: Haryana Agricultural University (Hisar) has successfully developed a new heat-tolerant wheat variety, WH 1309. This variety is designed to thrive even in high March temperatures and with late sowing, offering a crucial tool for farmers to mitigate climate change impacts and enhance food security. In terms of policy, the government is actively regulating biostimulant products under FCO 1985, approving only 146 products while canceling over 9,000 provisional ones to ensure quality and efficacy for farmers.
Overall, India's food grain production has shown remarkable growth, increasing from 265.95 million tonnes in 2013-14 to a record 329.69 million tonnes in 2022-23. The agriculture sector has also witnessed an impressive rise in the export of agri & allied commodities, with figures climbing from USD 50.24 billion in 2021-22 to USD 53.15 billion in 2022-23. Furthermore, the government continues its commitment to farmers by increasing the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all mandated Kharif, Rabi, and other commercial crops, ensuring a return of at least 50 percent over the all-India weighted average cost of production since 2018-19.
