Rain shortfall May Hit Wheat Crop In Himachal Pradesh

With more than 80 per cent of wheat sowing completed in Himachal Pradesh in the Rabi season, farmers are worried the continuing dry spell may badly hit the crop.

The weather bureau in Shimla said today (27 November), the deficiency in rainfall was almost 100 per cent from October 1 to November 26.

Hamirpur, Kangra and Una were among the worst affected districts.

Meteorological office director Manmohan Singh said the cumulative rainfall during this period was just 5.3 mm against the normal precipitation of 56.8 mm, which was 91 per cent less than the normal rainfall.

Singh said dry conditions would continue across the state till 2 December.

The state agriculture department has a target of 16 lakh tonnes of food production, including 6.96 lakh tonnes in Rabi, against last year's production of 12.38 lakh tonnes - 6.75 lakh tonnes in Kharif and 5.63 lakh tonnes in Rabi.

The southwest monsoon in Himachal Pradesh also remained 26 per cent deficient - the sixth consecutive year when the state suffered deficit, the weather bureau said.

With inputs from IANS