Heat Wave 2022: Causes, impacts and way forward for Indian Agriculture
An analysis and study of the heatwave (Loo) was done by the Central Arid Land Agricultural Research Institute. This institute is under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
Causes of Heatwave:
- Anti-cyclone (March) conditions and absence of a Western Disturbance (absence of rainfall) over western parts of Rajasthan have led to initial and extreme Heatwave conditions.
- Counter-cyclones cause hot and dry weather by coming down of winds around high pressure systems in the atmosphere.
Effect of Heatwave:
- This causes yellowing of the grains and they shrink. Due to this the crop ripens before time.
- Other side effects are; Moisture stress, sunburn, flower drop etc.
- The milch animals/birds lose their appetite and the body temperature becomes high.
Suggestions for heatwave mitigation:
- Selection of the right crop varieties, animal bathing and mulching techniques (such as plastic mulching) should be done.
- Timely sowing and heat-tolerant wheat crop varieties like PBWO3, DBW187 should be adopted.
- Spraying of potassium nitrate at foliar and flowering stage reduces yield loss.
- Mulching (covering with weeds) in sugarcane, ridge and furrow maintains soil moisture and reduces pressure. Fruit trees should be covered with shady nets/cotton cloth to protect them from sunlight.
- Heat wave (HW) is defined in terms of actual temperature in an area based on a temperature range or extreme deviation from its normal temperature.
Source – The Hindu
