The rains have been good to the on-going rabi cultivation. The Indian meteorological department (IMD) has reported scattered to widespread rain in the past two weeks. This bodes well for rabi crops in northern India.

There has been fairly widespread rain in Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, according to Medha Khole, IMD director. Some mountain areas have also received show; when it melts it will augment the water flow in streams and rivers.

According to RP Samui, deputy director general of the agricultural meterological division, said the rain in Palampur and Kulu of Himachal Pradesh would be very good for crops like wheat, vegetables, mustard and cauliflower. In Kulu, predominantly temperate fruit crops like apples and apricot, besides wheat and vegetable crops would do well.

In Jammu & Kashmir, both hilly areas and valleys received rain, which is good for the wheat crop, now in the ‘flag leaf’ stage.

Upper reaches like Pithoragarh received snow and rain. “The prevailing cloudy conditions in the plain areas with the minimum temperature around 12 or 13 degrees celsius and the maximum temperature below 30 degrees celsius are ‘highly’ favourable to wheat seed setting, which is now in ‘flowering/milking’ stage. Samui is sure the wheat yield in these areas will be two to three quintals more per hectare this year.

Other crops like pea, gram and lentil are in the ‘flowering/pod formation’ stage. But the cloudy conditions in the northern region could bring in pest problems in their wake. “So farmer are advised to take plant protection measures by spraying pesticides.” Samui said.

The next two weeks, too, hold promise for northern India. Rain in the region is forecast to be fairly scattered and widespread. There could be more snow in some mountain areas. All this will benefit winter crops.