How to protect Rabi crops from frost and changing weather?

Protect Rabi crops: Nowadays, a lot of change is being seen in the weather. In such changing weather, there is a greater possibility of damage to Rabi crops, trees and plants. On days when it is very cold, there is no wind in the evening, the sky is clear at night and the humidity percentage is high, then the possibility of frost is highest on that night.

At night, when the atmospheric temperature drops to or below zero degrees celsius, air flow stops, causing water to freeze inside and on top of plant cells to form a thin layer of solid ice. This is called frost. Due to frost, farmers have to face huge loss of crops. Regarding this problem and its solution, Kisan of India spoke to Dr. R.P Singh., crop protection expert and head of Agricultural Science Center, Narkatiaganj West Champaran, run by Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa Samastipur. We had a detailed and special conversation with Dr. Singh.

How to protect Rabi crops

Dr. R.P. Singh explains that frost damages the cell walls of the plant and destroys the cell pores (stomata). Frost also disrupts the exchange of carbon dioxide, oxygen and water vapour. Because of this the leaves and flowers of the plant wither. They get scorched and become discoloured, the grains become smaller and the flowers start falling. As a result crop production is affected.

According to Dr. Singh, potato, tomato, pea, lentil, mustard, brinjal, linseed, cumin, pigeon pea, coriander, papaya and planted crops are more affected due to frost. When frost is severe, crops like wheat, barley, sugarcane etc. also get affected. There is a possibility of damage to almost all crops during the winter season due to the effects of cold wave and frost. Crops like tomato, chilli, brinjal, papaya, banana, pea, gram, linseed, mustard, cumin, coriander, fennel, etc. can suffer 70 to 80 percent damage. There is a fear of loss of 60 to 70 percent in pigeon pea, gram, pea, 50 percent in sugarcane and 10 to 20 percent in wheat and barley.

Advice to the farmers,

Dr. R.P. Singh while giving advice to the farmers, told the following ways to protect themselves from frost: 

• Burn grass and smoke on the ridges of the fields, by doing this the environment around the crops becomes hot. Crops are saved from the effects of frost.
• Irrigate crops to protect them from frost. Crops are not affected by frost if irrigated.
• Take a rope to protect the crop from frost. Holding both ends of the rope, keep moving the crop from one corner of the field to the other. Due to this, the dew lying on the crop falls and the crop is saved from frost.
• If farmers are preparing a nursery then they should make it into a pallet made of grass and straw or cover it with plastic. Also, keep in mind that the south-east side should remain open so that it gets sunlight in the morning and afternoon.
• To protect from frost, plant windproof trees like rosewood, acacia, khejri, mulberry, mango and blackberry etc. on the north-west ridge and at appropriate places in between. In this way crops can be protected from frost in winter for a long time.

Farmers sprinkle lukewarm water on crops

• If farmers sprinkle lukewarm water on the crops, the crops are saved from frost.
• During frost days, a solution of urea should be prepared at the rate of 20 grams/litre of water and sprayed. Apart from this, dissolve 500 grams of thiourea in 1000 liters of water and spray it at an interval of 15 days. Spray at the rate of 8 to 10 kg per acre, or a solution of 40 grams of soluble sulfur 80% WDG per 15 liters of water can be sprayed. By doing this the temperature of the protoplasm present in the plant cells increases. It does not freeze and the crops are saved from frost.
• To protect crops from frost, 15 grams of Muriate of Potash dissolved in 15 liters of water can be sprayed.
• Farmers should spray glucose at the rate of 25 grams per 15 liters of water to protect their crops from frost.
• To protect crops from frost, a solution of 100 grams of NPK and 25 grams of Agromin per 15 liters of water can be sprayed.

Mustard yield is adversely

Dr. R.P. Singh says that nowadays, due to storm and rain, there is a high possibility of loss of crops of mustard, wheat, gram, lentils and pigeon pea. 

• Mustard yield is adversely affected by excessive rainfall due to fungus growth.
• The production of wheat crop which has fallen due to rain and storm will also be affected. In the fallen seedlings, the grains will not develop completely, the grains will shrink, the weight of the grains will decrease.
• Similarly, the production of gram, lentil and pigeon pea will be affected because of lack of formation of proper pods due to falling of flowers due to rain and strong winds.
• If it rains continuously for 2 to 3 days then there is more attack of diseases and pests on the crops.

Dr. Singh said that in such a situation, farmers should adopt the following measures:

• Drain the excess water from the field.
• If mustard has been harvested, dry the crop thoroughly and do threshing.
• To control pod borer in gram, lentil and pigeon pea crops, when the weather is clear, spray a solution of Emamectin Benzoate at the rate of 1 gram per 2 liters of water.
• By adopting these measures, farmers can protect their Rabi crops from damage caused by frost and changing weather.