Atta Ka Dam! IMD Warns Of Heavy Rains, Hailstorms For States; Wheat Harvesting, Procurement To Be Impacted?

The weather conditions in northwest India are dire, threatening to impact wheat-growing regions like Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. As per reports, farmers of these states faced crop damages as rains and hailstorms battered their fields. This further raised concerns about whether wheat procurement will be impacted and whether this will affect wheat prices overall.

Wheat Harvesting Delayed:

As per reports, the untimely and unexpected gush of strong winds followed by heavy rains and hailstorms over the past two days has likely impacted wheat harvesting in Punjab state. Not just that the wheat crops have already matured in several parts of Punjab and were just in their last phase of ripening in other areas. However, harvesting has likely been set back due to wet field conditions.

IMD has issued a red alert in some areas of Punjab, followed by an orange alert in Amritsar, Gurdaspur, and Tarn Taran.

IMD Weather Forecast:

According to IMD, two western disturbances are likely to affect northwest India during the week, with peak activity on April 7th and 8th.

The Western Disturbance as a cyclonic circulation, lies over central Pakistan & adjoining Punjab in lower tropospheric levels with trough aloft in middle & upper tropospheric levels roughly along the longitude. 71°E to the north of Lat. 28°N.

Thereby, IMD predicts another fresh wet spell with fairly widespread to widespread light to moderate rainfall/snowfall with isolated thunderstorms, lightning & gusty winds (speed reaching 30-50 kmph gusting to 60 Kmph) likely over Jammu & Kashmir & Uttarakhand on 07th & 08th; Himachal Pradesh during 07th-09th April; Scattered to fairly widespread light to moderate rainfall with isolated thunderstorms, lightning & gusty winds (speed reaching 40-50 kmph) likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi, West Uttar Pradesh & East Rajasthan on the 7th and 8th; East Uttar Pradesh on the 8th & 9th; and West Rajasthan on the 7th of April.

It added that isolated hailstorm activity is likely over Jammu-Kashmir, West Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan on 07th; Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi on 07th & 08th April.

Also, hailstorm activity is expected in Madhya Pradesh on April 8. IMD said, "Use hail nets or hail caps in fruit orchards and vegetable plants to protect them from mechanical damage in Sub Himalayan West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Rajasthan and East Madhya Pradesh."

Hence, the storms are likely to prevail for the next three days at least.

Wheat Prices To Rise?

If the harvesting is delayed in its completion process, there could be a supply crunch and most likely push prices higher.

Wheat Mandi Prices:

As per Commodity Online, the average price of wheat is Rs 2,382.83 per quintal. This price was last updated till 8.35 am on April 6, 2026. As per the latest market rates, the average Wheat price is Rs 2382.83/Quintal. The lowest market price is Rs 2000/Quintal. The costliest market price is Rs 2600/Quintal.

Wheat Procurement Schedule:

Amidst the concerns, the government has assured that farmers remain a priority and that the wheat procurement at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) will begin in the state as per the scheduled timeline in Madhya Pradesh.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav said, "Wheat produced by all farmers registered on the procurement portal will be purchased. Under the procurement process, wheat from small farmers will be purchased first. This will be followed by the procurement of wheat from medium and large farmers. He also assured that there is no shortage of gunny bags in the state."

He also directed senior officials of the Food and Civil Supplies Department to establish a state-level control room, as well as control rooms in agricultural produce markets (mandis), for regular monitoring of the procurement system.

He instructed that all weighing centres across the state be thoroughly inspected before April 10 in view of wheat procurement, so that farmers have no doubts about the arrangements. He further said that the existing infrastructure of agricultural produce markets in the state should be improved in a phased manner and upgraded to global standards to develop them into world-class mandis.

The government said tha tall preparations for wheat procurement at the Minimum Support Price (MSP). Procurement will begin from April 10 in the Indore, Ujjain, Bhopal, and Narmadapuram divisions, while in the remaining divisions it will start from April 15. He informed that slot booking for registered farmers in the divisions where procurement will begin on April 10 will start from Tuesday, April 7. Wheat procurement at the MSP will begin on Friday, April 10.

For the procurement year 2026-27, a total of 1,904,644 farmers have registered for wheat procurement in the state. This year, 3,627 procurement centres have been set up across the state. In the previous procurement year 2025-26, 1,544,055 farmers had registered for wheat procurement.

MSP On Wheat:

Currently, the minimum support price on wheat is fixed at Rs 2,625 per quintal for the latest procurement year. Additionally, the state will offer bonus of Rs 40 per quintal to farmers over and above the MSP. The state is expected to reach 7.8 million metric tonnes, for which around 312,000 bales of gunny bags will be required.