Temperatures in north India in February will likely harm the standing wheat crop as well as fruits and vegetables. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Temperatures in north India are likely to be warmer than normal in February along with below-normal rainfall. This will likely harm the standing wheat crop as well as fruits and vegetables, the head of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday.

“Below-normal rainfall along with higher temperature over the plains of northwest India would have significant adverse impact on the standing crops like wheat at flowering and grain filling stages,” IMD Director-General M. Mohapatra said at the monthly weather briefing, “Crops like mustard and chickpea may also experience early maturity. Horticultural crops like apple, and other temperate stone fruits may experience premature bud break and early flowering due to warmer temperatures, resulting in poor fruit setting and quality, which may ultimately reflect in poor yield,” he said

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Wheat, India’s most important kharif crop, is usually harvested from February to April. Major wheat-producing States such as Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan were likely to be the most affected, said an accompanying press statement. Other wheat producers – Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh – were likely to be impacted less as rainfall, and therefore lower temperature, was more likely, it said.

For the rest of the country, night temperatures during February 2025, are most likely to be ‘above normal’, except in parts of northwest India and south peninsular India, where it is likely to be normal. Day temperatures for the month are likely to be ‘normal to above normal’ over most parts of the country, except in parts of west-central India and southern peninsular India, where ‘below-normal’ maximum temperatures are likely.

Globally, weak La Niña conditions are prevailing over the equatorial Pacific, and the sea surface temperatures are below normal over the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. The latest forecast indicates that weak La Niña conditions are expected to persist till April 2025, with a transition to ENSO(El Nino-Southern Oscillation)-neutral condition likely thereafter. La Nina and ENSO-conditions in the central Pacific Ocean influence the performance of the monsoon.