Impact of Temperature and Solar Radiation on Wheat Crop for Varanasi Region of Uttar Pradesh

Abstract

Agriculture production is depended upon the weather phenomena of any particular place. The crop growth and phenology during its growing season are entirely determined by the climatic condition of the location. Possible changes in temperature and solar radiation are expected to significantly impact the crop growth and yields. In this study, CERES wheat model was used to assess the impact of temperature and solar radiation on physiology and productivity of wheat crop at Varanasi region, Uttar Pradesh. The simulation of anthesis days, maturity days, grain yield and straw yield were carried out for the range of temperature (maximum and minimum both) -3°C and +3°C with an interval of 1°C temperature from normal, alone or in combination with solar radiation 1, 2 and 3MJ m-2day-1 while keeping the other climate variables constant. Anthesis days and maturity days reduced with increasing temperature. At increase of 3°C temperature, anthesis and maturity occurred 10 days and 11 days earlier from normal, respectively. Grain yield decreased by 33.1% and straw yield increased by 10.8% concurrently with an increase in temperature by 3°C and an increase in solar radiation (up to 3MJ m-2 day-1) in comparison with the normal conditions. It is inferred that increasing temperature and decreasing solar radiation hampers the crop phenology and the productivity in Varanasi region.