Jalandhar, October 14
Post-monsoon rain with high velocity winds last evening brought misery to farmers in the region. It has not only damaged the standing crop but also the paddy already procured.
A visit to various villages and grain markets in Jalandhar, Amritsar and Kapurthala districts revealed that the standing crop was damaged in some pockets.
In Nakodar area, majority of the crop had already been harvested. So the damage was limited to small patches.
The Chief Agriculture Officer, Jalandhar, Mr Swatantar Kumar, said till date only 50 per cent of the crop had been harvested in district. The total paddy sown area was 1.48 lakh hectares.
The area received 5.6mm of rain and the wind velocity was 75 kmph.
“As the fields were not flooded, the flattened crop would recover in a day or two if the weather remains normal with a plenty of sunshine. Moreover, there is a no threat of discolouration of grain,” he said.
But affected farmers were not so positive and they believed the damage could be up to 35 per cent. Farmer Baljinder Singh of Singha Nanaksar village on the Jalandhar-Nakodar road was upset as his paddy crop in 4 acres was virtually flattened. He said he had sown a hybrid variety. He had also sown some early varieties in that area, but that was harvested well in time.
He was cursing himself for planting hybrid late-sown varieties. He said he had sown the seed on experimental basis.
“In future I will transplant only recommended varieties of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, or the Agriculture Department,” he said.
Some of the farmers were seen drying their produce in the open at the Partap Pura grain market after his heap was drowned in rainwater. Even the paddy procured by millers was damaged as it was also lying in the open at most of the places.
Farmers said a brief spell of rain had converted the grain market into a pool of water and slush. In some areas the harvesting operations had been hampered as the crop had got damp and farmers were sure to suffer losses.
Nachttar Singh, another farmer, said he had transplanted paddy on 12 acres. He said during harvesting its quality would deteriorate and the damage could up to 25 per cent.
AMRITSAR: Besides damaging the crop, the winds disrupted power and water supply throughout the city.
The Chief Agriculture Officer, Mr Y.S. Chhina, said the team would visit affected areas on Monday to ascertain the actual damage caused to the basmati crop. According to estimates, about 15 per cent of the crop was damaged in the border belt.
PHAGWARA: Traffic was disrupted on the Jalandhar-Phagwara-Ludhiana highway on Friday night because of uprooting of a large number of trees, billboards and electrical poles.
When the Tribune team visited some villages on Saturday, including Chak Hakim, Saprod, Chaheru and Mauli, the crop in Saprod village was seen flattened. Balbir Singh, who owns five acres, said he would incur a loss of Rs 8,000 per acre.
KAPURTHALA: Heavy rain in the district created problems for farmers, especially those paddy growers who have yet not sold their produce.
Farmers Saroop Singh and Kewal Singh, both from Jainpur village, said their paddy was lying at the Sultanpur Lodhi grain market when heavy rains started. However, different winter vegetables were also damaged. While the exact loss to the standing crop of vegetables could not be known, Kuldip Singh of Brindpur village said a major portion of his crop was damaged.
With inputs from Ashok Sethi (Amritsar), Dharminder Joshi (Kapurthala) and Anil Jerath (Phagwara).
