Right through last fortnight, rising temperatures in north and central India had raised concern over the wheat crop — the Centre had sent an advisory to states. The Met, however, brought good news yesterday at the weekly inter-ministerial “crop weather watch meeting”: widespread rains over the wheat-growing belt over the next 3-4 days.

By this afternoon, a western disturbance and cyclonic circulation over South Pakistan had brought rain across Northwest India, Rajasthan and West Madhya Pradesh. The system is expected to move eastwards, bringing more rain.

Day temperatures have already fallen by 2-4ºC over plains of Northwest India and are likely to fall further by 2-3ºC over the Indo-Gangetic plain over the next 3 days, says the IMD forecast.

Among the stations that recorded 10-30 mm of rain are Ambala, Chandigarh, Hissar, Patiala, Jammu, Shimla, Sundarnagar, Bikaner, Guna, Gwalior, Jaipur, Jaisalmer and Delhi. The heaviest rainfall was recorded at weather stations in Punjab and Haryana.

All this is good news for the wheat crop, seven weeks before its harvest.

“This spell of rain is required both for lowering of the unseasonal high temperature in February and maintaining the moisture in the soil,” said A K Gogoi, Additional Director General, Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR). “This is just the right temperature, vital time when the grain is filling up,” he said.

Experts say a one-degree-Celsius rise in temperature over a 5-degree increase can reduce productivity by up to 450 kg per hectare. Last week, temperatures across the wheat belt had increased by an average of 5-6 degrees. Last year, it’s believed, a warm February had contributed to the cut in wheat output by nearly 7% — leading to imports for the first time in six years.

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