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By Mayank Bhardwaj and Rajendra Jadhav
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, Feb 20 (Reuters) – India has set up a panel of officials to assess the impact of rising temperatures on the wheat crop, government officials said on Monday, as the weather office warned that above normal temperatures would prevail in key producing states.
However, a lack of winter rains has raised temperatures in some parts of India’s northern states where farmers grow wheat. Last week, the daily average temperature hit early to mid-March levels, according to weather officials.
“The government has decided to form a committee to monitor the impact of higher temperatures, but the current crop condition looks good,” said one of the officials, who didn’t wish to be named in line with official rules.
India’s agriculture commissioner will head the committee, and officials from the country’s key wheat growing states and government scientists will also be on the panel.
Maximum temperatures are likely to remain 5 to 7 degrees Celsius above normal over many parts of northwest India during the next three days, it said.
The country grows only one wheat crop in a year, with planting in October and November, and harvesting from March.
(Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Susan Fenton)
((mayank.bhardwaj@thomsonreuters.com; +91-11-4954 8030; Twitter: @MayankBhardwaj9; Reuters Messaging: mayank.bhardwaj.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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