Farmers of Punjab’s ‘climate-smart villages’ geared up to protect wheat from heat stress

Standing in his 22-acre field with wheat in the final ripening phase, Baramjit Singh expresses confidence in a bumper crop even as farmers are apprehensive of a drop in production due to heat stress this season for the second consecutive year.

Singh says he has been following farm practices told by the experts under NICRA (National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture) project at his climate-smart village to combat the threat of heatwaves on the crops.

He added that results were visible when the rabi crop had a marginal loss when the region witnessed the warmest ever March-April in 2022.

Located about 25 km from Bathinda district headquarters, Killi Nihal Singhwala is among India’s 151 villages where farmers are being trained to equip themselves for the forthcoming challenge of climate change.

Hyderabad-based Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), a constitute of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is working in coordination with the network of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) with on-field demonstrations for the last 12 years.

NICRA’s national coordinator JVNS Prasad said practical training is being imparted to farmers to cultivate wheat while minimising loss of yield due to adverse climatic conditions.

“In 2011, Bathinda and Faridkot were identified as climate-risk districts on the 30-point audit of various factors. In 2021, Moga and Gurdaspur districts were added and KVK experts are playing a crucial role in giving demonstrations of best farm practices and regular monitoring,” said Prasad, an agriculture scientist at CRIDA.

Baramjit said 2022 witnessed an early onset of summers that hit the wheat yield in almost the entire country but those who followed guidelines were saved from huge losses.

“Temperature in March last year shot up dramatically leading to the early maturity of wheat. The average wheat harvest was 22 quintals from HD 3086 and DBW 187 varieties which was about 2 quintals less than the previous seasons. When wheat growers of other areas reported a loss of 4-6 quintals but my yield declined by only about 2 quintals and it was only due to the new best farm practices,” he added.

Another progressive farmer Yadvinder Singh said the project was started 12 years ago as a capacity building in view of the global threat of climate change.

“We realised utilisation of the project for the first time in the last rabi season. As per experts’ recommendations, I used potassium nitrate last year to combat a sudden surge in temperature and the results were very impressive. This time also, I have sprayed it once about 10 days ago when the temperature was fluctuating once again since the February end and I am sure that the yield will again be better,” he added.

Farmers at another climate-smart village in Faridkot’s Pindi Balochan also echoed a similar experience to beat the heat.

Jaspal Singh sows wheat and paddy on his ancestral land of 21 acres and he has already sprayed one dose of the farm chemical to control the adverse impact of the unfriendly climate.

“NICRA recommendations ask farmers to use short-duration varieties of paddy and wheat and ensure eco-friendly paddy residue management. Direct sowing of rice (DSR) is also an integral part of the programme to save water and become part of the battle against climate change. Marginal loss of wheat production in comparison to other farmers proves the success of the techniques,” he said.

According to the director of extension education at Punjab Agriculture University, part of the project, GS Buttar, timely sowing and using only the recommended varieties are other key features of the project and the technology is found promising in minimising the impact of heat stress.