India's 2019 wheat output could fall from record on scanty rains

India's wheat production could fall in 2019 from record output this year as lower moisture levels and higher temperatures in key growing regions are threatening yields of the winter-sown crop, farmers and analysts told Reuters.
A drop in output could lift local wheat prices and force the world's second-biggest producer to reduce import taxes on the grain to augment supply. Higher imports from India could support global wheat prices, while a local price increase could calm angry farmers in northern India.
"Instead of six acres, I planted wheat on three acres and chickpeas on the remaining area as tube wells are not pumping enough water," said Mukesh Mandloi, a farmer from Sehore in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.
Wheat needs more water than chickpeas, a pulse crop. Madhya Pradesh and the northern state of Uttar Pradesh are India's top two wheat-producing states, accounting for more than 45 percent of the country's total output. These two states received nearly a tenth less rainfall than normal during the June-September monsoon season.