March rain to impact mustard, mango, but help wheat: Experts

“This weather is going to have a maximum adverse impact on the standing mustard crop. We were expecting a bumper mustard crop this year. However, with hailstorm and heavy rainfall, this yield is likely to be reduced by 30 per cent. While the average yield of mustard in Uttar Pradesh is about 25 quintals per hectare, we were expecting it to be between 28-30 quintals per hectare, but this will change now,” Sanjay Singh, Director General of UP Council for Agriculture Research, told The Indian Express.

According to Singh, mango yield too will be reduced this year. “Around 80 per cent of the mango trees had started flowering. The heavy rain and storm would lead to falling of these flowers and thus reducing the yield of mango crop as well,” he added.

Other crops to be hit by the sudden downpour are pulses like arhar (tur), which are currently in their flowering stage. “If the flowers drop in this weather, then the yield of the pulses will be affected drastically,” experts said.
Guava and “ber” among the fruits, and potato crop, which has not been harvested yet, are also likely to be affected by this rainy phase.

Experts also fear that even vegetable crops are likely to be affected across the state due to water logging in the fields, thus leading to a rise in their prices next week.

However, this wet phase, accompanied by a drop in temperature, will be helpful for the wheat crop. “Most of the wheat crop is now in the green or milking stage. This change in weather is expected to boost the yield as we were fearing that the unexpected and early rise in temperature in February would affect the wheat crop’s yield,” said Singh.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered officers to conduct a field survey to provide relief and also estimate the loss of life, both humans and animals, as well crop damage due to heavy rain, lighting and hailstorm across the state. Uttar Pradesh Relief Commissioner has also issued instructions to all the districts in this regard.

Meanwhile, as per the warning issued by the Meteorological Department, at least 30 districts are likely to witness heavy rain and thunderstorm, lighting and hailstorm.

The 30 districts are Aligarh, Ambedkar Nagar, Amroha, Baghpat, Bahraich, Balrampur, Barabanki, Bareilly, Basti, Bijnor, Bulandshahr, Farrukhabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Hathras, Lakhimpur Kheri, Mathura, Meerut, Moradabad, Muzafarnagar, Pilibhit, Sant Kabir Nagar, Rampur, Saharanpur, Sidharthanagar, Shahjahanpur, Shamli, Sitapur and Shravasti.

On Monday, Lucknow received 13 mm of rainfall.