Amid Rising Temperature, ICAR Smart Wheat Crop Can be a Game Changer!

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a warning amid the nation's fast-rising mercury levels, stating that the recent temperature rise witnessed by Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan might endanger the wheat harvests. The Union Agricultural Ministry then quickly established a committee to keep track of the evolving situation and its effects on the present wheat harvest.

All of these worries are a result of what happened last year when the crops were burnt by the early summer's arrival and the output was drastically reduced. Early heatwave warnings and unusually warm February temperatures this year have already reignited old concerns in our nation's grain bins.

The influence of the changing climate on summer temperatures will probably become more obvious as time goes on.

In this case, adopting climate-resilient agricultural techniques and creating crops that can adapt to changing climates are essential. Researchers at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) are already working on it. They have created a new kind of wheat that can be planted beforehand and harvested before the peak temperature in March.

This brand-new HD-3385 wheat variety can be sown early, evades the effects of heat waves, and is ready for harvest by the end of March.

In Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, wheat is mostly sown before mid-November. In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, it is generally sown during the second half of November. Normally, it takes 140–145 days to reach harvest readiness.

According to scientists, postponing sowing until October 20 will prevent the crop from being exposed to heat at a critical stage of its growth. As a result, it may be comfortably harvested by the end of March rather than in April.

Nevertheless, planting current kinds too early renders the crop vulnerable to early flowering, which would reduce crop production since the plants wouldn't have enough time to develop normally before blooming.

To get around this issue, ICAR-IARI scientists have created three new wheat varieties employing a process called "mild vernalization," in which the crops require a specific minimum amount of time of cold winter temperatures before the beginning of blooming.

The types in dispute include HDCSW-18, HD-3410, and HD-3385, all of which were introduced in 2016 (released in 2022).

The HDCSW-18 plants grew to a height of 105-110 cm, making them more susceptible to lodging or bending than usual high-yielding types, which only reach heights of 90-95 cm.

In contrast, the HD-3410 has a lower plant height and a better production potential (7.5 tonnes/hectare) (100-105 cm). However, when compared to the other two, the third and newest variety, HD-3385, has the ideal size (95 cm) and great production potential (7.5 tonnes/hectare).

These crops would see 'baalis' or earheads carrying flowers and finally, grain emerge in 100-110 days if they were sown between October 20 and 25. This would provide a long window for both vegetative developments in the early stages and grain production from mid-February.

Whereas conventional crops have not yet developed earheads, the HD-3385 plants being sowed at IARI's testing fields have already reached the pollination stage.

The ICAR-IARI has leased its newest wheat variety to a private enterprise for multi-location testing and seed multiplication in its first-ever public-private cooperation project. If all goes as planned, we'll soon have the ideal wheat variety to trick the mercury!