Cold wave, fog to sweep north and east India; scientists say good for rabi crops
The IMD warns of dense fog and cold waves in northern and eastern India, impacting visibility. Despite this, agricultural experts confirm that the weather is beneficial for rabi crops, with sowing areas rising significantly this season.
Brace for a colder spell as large parts of north, east and northeast India are set to witness prolonged dense fog, cold day and cold wave conditions over the coming days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
But for rabi crops, the prevailing weather remains conducive and is unlikely to have any adverse impact, agricultural scientists said.
According to the latest IMD forecast, dense to very dense fog is very likely to continue during night and morning hours over Bihar till 26 December, Assam and Meghalaya till 27 December, Uttar Pradesh till 29 December, and Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh till 30 December.
Dense fog conditions are also expected at isolated pockets over Jammu and Kashmir, east Arunachal Pradesh and over Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya till 30 December. Also, parts of east Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal may experience dense fog till 27 December.
In addition, cold day to severe cold day conditions are likely at a few places over Bihar, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim during 25-28 December, and at isolated pockets of Uttarakhand during 25-27 December. East Uttar Pradesh may see cold day conditions at isolated locations on 25-26 December.
The IMD has also forecast cold wave conditions over parts of Jharkhand, West Rajasthan and north Chhattisgarh and over Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh during 26-30 December.
According to IMD, minimum temperatures are likely to fall by 2-3°C over Assam over the next two days, and by 1-2°C over Chhattisgarh over the next three days, with no significant change thereafter, while the rest of the country is expected to see largely stable minimum temperatures over the next seven days.
Authorities have advised caution, particularly for road, rail and air travel due to reduced visibility, and urged people to take adequate precautions against prolonged cold exposure.
However, agriculture scientists said the prevailing weather remains conducive for rabi crops. "The cold wave conditions in north and other parts of the country are currently conducive to rabi crops and we don't see any major impact," said Ratan Tiwari, director, Indian Council of Agricultural Resrach-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR), Karnal.
India’s rabi crop sowing in 2025–26 has recorded a notable increase in coverage compared to the previous year, with total area sown rising by more than 8 lakh hectares, according to data released by the Union ministry of agriculture & farmers’ welfare on Monday. The sowing is nearing completion, with the area standing 1.4% higher as of 19 December from a year ago.
As of 19 December, the total rabi crop coverage reached 58.07 million hectares, up from 57.25 million hectares at the same stage in the previous crop year, reflecting steady progress in sowing operations across the country. The season's normal rabi area is 63.78 million hectares.
The expansion was driven in part by a rise in wheat, rice, pulses and oilseeds acreage. Wheat and rice sowing areas registered year-on-year increases. Wheat coverage was higher by 1.29 lakh hectares, and rice area saw an increase of 1.83 lakh hectares compared with the same period last year. Coverage under pulses increased by 3.72 lakh hectares, with gram recording a significant rise of 4.89 lakh hectares against the corresponding period of 2024–25. Oilseeds area, led by rapeseed and mustard, also expanded, reaching 9.33 million hectares.
India is projected to post a record increase in the production of major kharif crops this year, with total foodgrain output estimated to rise by 3.87 million tonnes to 173.33 million tonnes, according to the first advance estimates released by agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on 26 November.
The estimates show strong gains in both rice and maize. Kharif rice production is expected to reach 124.5 million tonnes, an increase of 1.73 million tonnes over last year. Maize output is projected at 28.3 million tonnes, 3.4 million tonnes higher than the previous kharif season.
topics
