Prevailing sunny winter has become a cause of worry for the farmers despite the good news from the Metrological Department, which has predicted a fall of 3-4 degree Celsius in the next couple of days.

For, the drop in temperature will also bring frost in its wake, which would aggravate the trouble.

B S Sidhu, Director, Agriculture, is keeping his fingers crossed. He says, "Wheat is a hardy crop, but we still need some cold days to keep it in good health."

He adds,"The crop has not begun to show any sign of damage as of now, but if the warm days continue, then it's a cause of worry."

Punjab Agricultural University agrometeorologist Dr KK Gill says, "The period between January 15 and January 19 has been very warm. The temperature on January 15 was 7 degrees Celsius and it rose to 12 degrees on January 19. However, it fell to 5 degrees on January 20. So we can say that weather is becoming good for wheat, though it was not all that bad earlier too."

This January, Punjab has not seen sub-zero temperature; last year, there were 19 days of continuous frost during this period.