Floods take toll on cauliflower, pear crop in Gurdaspur, Amritsar

Recent flooding by the Ravi not only damaged paddy, sugarcane and maize crop, but also washed away cauliflower crop in Gurdaspur’s Dera Baba Nanak and damaged saplings of pear in Amritsar’s Ajnala area. Situated along the Ravi, both border subdivisions share borders.

Grown on about 1,200 acres, the early arrival of cauliflower in the market ensures good price to growers. The arrival of the vegetable in September invariably fetches between Rs 70 to Rs 80 per kg in the retail market which falls down to Rs 20 per kg with resumption of supply from other parts of the state.

A farmer from Dera Baba Nanak, Jagtar Singh Thethrke said he had sown cauliflower on three acres this season and the entire crop got damaged due to floods. He said he had invested about Rs 1.50 lakh in preparing fields which require nearly 18 labourers to prepare an acre of farm in a day, then four sacks of DAP, equal number of sacks of urea, one potash, medicines to prevent fungicide and regulating growth.

In Amritsar’s wholesale vegetable market at Vallah, vendors to swiftly sell their produce are often heard saying that they have “Dera Di Gobhi”. This statement was missing from the market as the crop did not arrive.

Navdeep Singh, District Horticulture Officer, Gurdaspur, said his department compiled a list of losses incurred by horticulturists of Gurdaspur in the floods. It came out that the cauliflower crop sown on about 1,200 acres of land was lost to floods. The growers had incurred a loss of about Rs 12 crore.

He added that his department forwarded a list of estimate of losses to the government and it would decide the compensation.

Dr Amrik Singh, Agriculture Officer, Gurdaspur, said the crop has a ready demand across the North comprising Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir as it arrives early in the market called ‘ageti’ crop in Punjabi, meaning early arrival. Thanks to the salubrious climate available in the region with plenty of green cover and the mighty Ravi.

Sowing for the vegetable commences at the fag end of June or early July and it matures in September. Growers invest over Rs 50,000 per acre in preparing fields, fertiliser, manure, and weeding is rampant requiring pesticide spray.

Dr Sandhu, Horticulture Officer, Amritsar, said saplings of pathar nakh, a variety of pear, which is grown nowhere else in Asia but only in Amritsar, were damaged in the floods while grown-up plants survived the gushing flow of water. There was no damage to the crop as the farmers had already plucked the fruit which has a ready market in Durga Puja of West Bengal. Kolkata is the biggest market for pear. Farmers here have been selling the produce in the eastern part of the country for the past nearly four decades.