Low yield, loss of rajmah crop hit Bathinda farmers

Bharat Khanna

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 24

After facing a huge damage to the Bt cotton crop because of “spurious seeds and pesticides”, now farmers in the cotton belt have got their fingers burnt on “Chitkabrah Rajmah” crop.

Some farmers in Bathinda, especially in the Rampura block, who had sown the Rajmah crop witnessed either damage, halted growth or faded colour of the yield.

However, farmers who had purchased seed from the Majha region for Rs 150 per kg had witnessed a good yield, whereas who had purchased seed from Barnala and nearby districts for Rs 70 per kg had witnessed complete damage or loss of colour.

When the matter was brought to the notice of the Agriculture Department, it initiated an inquiry to find out the reasons behind failure of crop.

Rampura-based farmer Nirmal Singh on Sunday uprooted his crop sown on his 2.5 acres, while two acres carrying Chitkabrah-Rajmah crop was uprooted two weeks ago.

“The crop failed to grow properly and witnessed burns. Earlier, pest attack was witnessed but we had then sprayed pesticides under the guidance of officials of the Agriculture Department, Bathinda. It may be due to hot weather conditions here. I purchased the seed from a private dealer in Barnala. I faced a loss of more than Rs 30,000,” he said.

Farmer Bhola Singh of Mehma Sarja village in the Goniana block witnessed colour loss in the yield. The yield he produced on 1.5 kanals was of faded white colour instead of red. Similarly, a farmer Sandeep Singh of Multania faced loss of rajmah crop sown on half of his kanal.

Agriculture Development Officer Navrattan Kaur maintained that a few farmers, who had purchased the seeds from the Majha region, including Amritsar and Taran Tarn, had witnessed good yield.

Guru Kashi University had sown the Chitkabrah variety seed on trial basis this year. Prof VP Mittal, a retired professor from PAU, said, “We had sown both varieties, including Red Rajmah and Chitkabrah, and both have witnessed a good yield. If some farmers are complaining of improper growth of crop, there may be defect in the seed they have purchased. Hot weather conditions or duplicate seeds also could be the reason.”

Deputy Director, pulses, Parmeshar Singh said, “The matter has come to our knowledge that farmers had faced loss of Rajmah crop here and we had initiated an inquiry into it. Farmers who had purchased seeds from Barnala had uprooted their crop while those who had purchased seed from the Majha region had witnessed profit.”

The seeds of rajmah are available in the private market while PAU has not recommended any seed till date.

In Bathinda, rajmah was sown above 10 acres and in Amritsar it was around 500 acres. In Gurdaspur it is around 25 acres, Hoshiarpur 20 acres, Taran Tarn 40 acres, Ludhiana 28 acres, Pathankot 3.5 acres, Fatehgarh Sahib 12 acres, Patiala five acres, and in Moga around six acres.