Rain flattens wheat crop in many areas

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Sirsa, March 1

Rain paralysed normal life in Sirsa town and flattened wheat crop in several places of the district today. The rain that started early morning today and continued till the afternoon lead to waterlogging in low-lying areas of Sirsa town.

People had a tough time moving from one place to another due to rain. Though the rain is generally considered beneficial for wheat and other crops, showers accompanied by strong winds resulted in lodging of wheat crops at several places.

Gurjeet Singh Mann, a progressive farmer from Kirpal Patti village of Sirsa, said early varieties of wheat had been flattened by the winds. He said while most of the lodged crops were likely to revive, some damage was bound to occur.

Since the Meteorological Department has predicted rains till March 3, farmers are a worried lot. Wazir Singh, Deputy Director (Agriculture), Sirsa, however, said the wheat crops would benefit from today’s rain.

Hisar: Sudden rain coupled with strong winds have flattened a large tract of standing rabi crops, especially wheat and mustered, in the region. Reports indicate that wheat crop in Hisar and Bhiwani villages, which are at the advanced stage, is the worst affected.

A Meteorological Department spokesperson at Haryana Agriculture University (HAU) said 30.2 mm rainfall had been recorded in the region, which was above average in this season. However, the winds blowing at 25 to 30 km per hour was a matter of cause for the farmers, he said.

He maintained similar weather would continue for one more day.

Meanwhile, INLD MP from Hisar Dushyant Chautala visited Rajli village to review the impact of the rain on the crops. He said it had wreaked havoc on crops. “I demand special girdawari from the state government to assess the losses. The government should give compensation of Rs 10 thousand per acres to farmers after assessing the losses”, he said.

Kaithal: Light to moderate rain lashed parts of Haryana with high velocity winds. This has played havoc with the standing wheat and mustard crops in various parts of the district. The reports of loss to standing crops have been received from Guhla-Cheeka, Kalayat, Rajound and Pundri.

The crops have flattened at many places which will not only hamper further growth of the crop, but will make it difficult for farmers to harvest the crop. As predicted in the weather forecast, the untimely rain have added to the worry of farmers. After a brief good weather during the last couple of days, the wheat and mustard crop had gained height and colour and the farmers expected to harvest a bumper crop.

Dharam Pal, Rajinder Pal and Kiran Pal, farmers of Rajound area, said the prevailing weather conditions would cause huge loss to the standing crop.

Another loss in offing?

Wheat is a major cash crop and any loss will have an adverse impact on the economic conditions of farmers in the area, who have already suffered huge financial losses due to prevailing low prices in the recently concluded paddy season