Govt data admits to kharif crop failure due to scanty rainfall

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Hisar, May 11

The government had denied drought-line conditions in the state in the Supreme Court, but special girdawari conducted during the kharif season has reported crop failure due to deficient rainfall in the region.

The information procured under the Right to Information Act stated that cotton crop suffered losses due to whitefly and was awarded the compensation.

But the same report revealed that the area of crop damage due to scanty rainfall was more than double the area which was affected by whitefly in Hisar, Fatehabad and Bhiwani districts.

The Kisan Sabha which got the information said that despite the government’s own admission on the basis of the special girdawari, the government not only ignored huge losses suffered by the farmers but also took an adamant and uncalled for stand in the Supreme Court.

The special girdawari report revealed that guar, moong and bajra, too, had suffered losses in the kharif season. Since the state government refused to admit that other than cotton, other crops suffered losses due to whitefly while citing the Haryana Agriculture University report which states that whitefly does not cause harm to other crops other than cotton.

A total of 2,46,699 acres of guar, moona and bajra crops suffered more than 33 per cent losses in Hisar district. Similarly, the report admitted crop failure due to scanty rainfall in 4,41,710 acres of the area in Bhiwani district and 2,38,140 acres in Fatehabad district.

While another 1,86,667 acres of the cotton area in Bhiwani and 58,532 acres of the cotton area in Fatehabad district suffered losses due to whitefly.

The Haryana Agriculture University’s monsoon rainfall data, too, revealed less than 50 per cent rainfall in eight districts of the state.

“But the state government remained unmoved even in the face of heat from the Supreme Court which recently rapped the Centre on the drought situation in Haryana and some other states.” said Pradeep Singh, a leader of the Kisan Sabha.

“The government has refused to admit that drought-like situation and denied compensation to the affected farmers,” the farm leader added.