📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Vinay Kanzariya
Agriculture
Water scarcity threatens wheat sowing across India this winter
✍️ The Economic Times
🗓 13 Oct 2026, 04:02 AM
👁 16
India's wheat farmers face a severe water shortage this winter, jeopardising timely sowing and potentially reducing the upcoming harvest.
The Economic Times reports that water scarcity is emerging as a major challenge for wheat sowing this winter across major grain‑producing regions of India.
With monsoon rains arriving later than usual and groundwater levels dropping, farmers in states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are finding it difficult to secure enough irrigation water for the critical sowing window that begins in November.
Experts warn that delayed or reduced sowing could cut the 2024‑25 wheat output by several million tonnes, affecting both domestic food security and export earnings. The Ministry of Agriculture has urged states to prioritize water‑saving techniques and to release additional surface‑water allocations where possible.
Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research is promoting drought‑tolerant wheat varieties and encouraging the use of micro‑irrigation systems to mitigate the impact of the shortage.
With monsoon rains arriving later than usual and groundwater levels dropping, farmers in states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are finding it difficult to secure enough irrigation water for the critical sowing window that begins in November.
Experts warn that delayed or reduced sowing could cut the 2024‑25 wheat output by several million tonnes, affecting both domestic food security and export earnings. The Ministry of Agriculture has urged states to prioritize water‑saving techniques and to release additional surface‑water allocations where possible.
Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research is promoting drought‑tolerant wheat varieties and encouraging the use of micro‑irrigation systems to mitigate the impact of the shortage.