The government came out with a list of incentives for sowing wheat. With reports of good sowing, setting a high target of 75.53 million tonnes for the current year. However, in the latest round of crop-cutting experiments, it stuck to a more conservative estimate of 72.5 tonnes.

The Ministry of Agriculture sent letters to wheat-growing states to press sprinklers and ensure round- the-clock electricity for water pumps. This was precautionary, they said, as an internal review had noted that all was well with the crop so far.

The reason for this optimism is that temperature in the early stages of crop sowing has been fine — a minimum of 5 degrees Celsius and a maximum of 20 degrees C in the North West plains. An internal report by the Karnal-based Directorate of Wheat Research had said that most of the production is likely to come from the increase in the area sown — 1.7 million hectares. This can translate into 4.6 million tonnes of additional wheat compared to the previous year.