NEW DELHIMUMBAI, Jan 29 Reuters The current cold snap sweeping central and northern India could help farmers harvest a bumper wheat crop this year, but any sudden, abnormal rise in temperatures will hit yields, officials and growers said, forcing the country to import the staple.

This year39;s wheat harvest is critical for India, the world39;s biggest producer of the grain after China. Hot and unseasonably warm weather cut India39;s wheat output in 2022 and 2023, leading to a sharp drawdown in state reserves.

A third straight poor harvest will leave no choice for India but to import some wheat. The government has so far resisted calls for wheat imports a seemingly unpopular step ahead of a general election early this year.

A long cold spell helped wheat during its vegetative growth, but a rise in temperatures, expected in the next few days, could impact the crop during the crucial grain formation stage.

Because of cold weather we39;re expecting a little better yield than normal 3.5 tons per hectare, and that39;s why we39;ll easily achieve the production of the target of 114 million metric tons, Gyanendra Singh, the director of the staterun Directorate Of Wheat Research, told Reuters.

After a slow start to the planting, a run of cold weather has helped the crop, but weather conditions need to remain favourable until early April, growers said.

Lower temperatures have raised our hopes, but we39;re keeping our fingers crossed, said Ravindra Kajal from Haryana state…