Mumbai, India,21thDec 2022–Heat stress resulting from an unprecedented spike in temperature adversely impacts wheat crop production. Thus, intending to combat heat stress with innovative nutrition practices, SWAL Corporation limited, a leading provider of sustainable agricultural solutions, introduced its product Wuxal in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan last Rabi season that recorded a staggering 10% hike in wheat yield in treated plots as compared to untreated plots. This year yet again, the company intends repeat the feat, reducing the impact of imminent heat stress with this innovative offering.
After the introduction of Wuxal in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, the farmers experienced enhanced flag leaf developmentand, with the sudden advent of heat wave in March, an active resilience against the losses incurred in the final yield. 131 farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan participated in wheat trials on total acreage of 3126 that lead to an average incremental Yield of 2.16 Q/Acre. It also increased the income of farmers by an average of more than Rs. 3,500/ acre.
Pankaj Joshi, Business Head – SWAL, said: “With farmer and crop resilience being a topic close to our hearts, we are very happy with the results farmers have seen across the wheat belt on heat stress. We are working closely with our farmers to ensure that the wheat growing regions of the north are best equipped to deal with heat stress that hits close to the harvest stage of wheat”
As per the World Bank report, India is experiencing higher temperatures every year. By 2030, over 160-200 million people across the country could be exposed to lethal heat waves annually. Additionally, the Global Food Policy Report 2022 by the International Food Policy Research Institute has warned that climate change may push 90 million Indians towards hunger by 2030 due to a decline in agricultural production and disruption in the food supply chain. It is estimated that Wheat yields may decline by -4.6 % to -32 % as the temperature is expected to rise from +0.5 OC to +2 OC in the future.
Wuxal is an innovative liquid fertilizer that provides benefits beyond nutrition with its revolutionary formulation technology from Germany that provides enhanced absorption, pH stabilisation and improved nutrient availability, and host of other benefits that helps meet the wheat crop’s heat stress demands.Its ability to fight climate change has made it a key value add for the farmer.
Speaking on climate change impact, Dr. Subodh Bishnoi from Agriculture Research Station, Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, said – ‘With an increase of 1 degree centigrade in temperature, during the spike formation stage of wheat, the yield can decrease by 4-6%. To combat this, farmers can either irrigate their fields or they can use fertilizers at flag leaf stage and milking stage to reduce the effect of heat wave and safeguard their crops.”
Farmer Lakhan Singh Mann, from village Yalki, District Hanumangarh said “For the last two – three years, excess heat has resulted in failing crops and substantial yield reduction for wheat. Last year, I did two sprays of SWAL’s Wuxal and I observed clear differences in Wuxal treated areas which showed a much more robust flag leaf, better grain filling and an outstanding grain lustre. Apart from these qualitative differences, I also got an incremental yield of 3-4 qtls per acre. For a bountiful wheat crop, I would suggest using Wuxal to my fellow farmers.”
SWAL is also adding Crop Weather Insurance through its sister entity, nurture.farm, for compensation against abnormal temperatures. This doubles the farmer benefit as savings happen on yield side and income increases through an automatic insurance payout for all farmers that scan Wuxal, based on preset temperature range breaches.
