Rain destroys crop, farmers worried

Amritsar, April 1

Unseasonal rains, accompanied by strong winds and hailstorm, have left farmers anxious and in distress. Vast swathes of standing wheat crop have been flattened by rains thereby causing heavy losses to farmers from Ajnala and Majitha belt.

Though the agriculture officials are claiming that the loss of yield would be around eight per cent, the farmers complained that the losses would be much more.

“Rains took away the colour and luster of the grains as they are drenched in water. In some low-lying fields, the wheat grains are still submerged in water,” said Sukhwinder Singh, a farmer.

The farmers stated that as the state government has announced a compensation of Rs 15,000 per acre for complete loss, which is insufficient. Another farmer, Satwant Singh, said, “Farmers have spent more as the input cost on the wheat crop than the compensation announced by the state government.”

The region has witnessed heavy showers at an unusual time when the crop was near maturity and the harvesting would have started within the next two weeks. While the farmers are still devastated, the agriculture experts stated that in case of water logging in the wheat fields, the farmers should drain it out.

In case of low lying fields, the experts have suggested farmers to dig trenches so that the water seeps down easily without causing much damage to the standing crop.

Chief Agriculture Officer Dr Jatinder Singh Gill said, “Nothing accurately can be said about the loss of the wheat crop as much depends on the weather during the next two weeks.”