Farmers worried as rain lashes dist

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, April 17

Farmers are a worried lot as intermittent rain lashed the district for the second consecutive day on Wednesday.

As showers lasted for almost 20 to 30 minutes, farmers fear that rain may cause damage to their standing crop, resulting in loss of yield.

With the sudden change in the weather in the past two days, farmers are keeping their fingers crossed. They are praying for more sunny days for their standing crop. However, according to the Agriculture Department, there are no reports of crop damage so far.

Hailstorm coupled with rain led to waterlogging on various roads in the city. In the past two days, the city has received more than 20 mm rain. Weathermen have predicted a cloudy sky and rain on Thursday as well.

Manoj Kumar, a farmer from Mehma Sarja village, said, “Earlier, the crop was not ripened for harvesting. Now, showers have delayed the harvesting process.”

Another farmer Gurmeet Singh said, “Rain at this time of the season is the worst thing farmers can expect. Apart from damaging crops, rain has made the soil muddy, which makes harvesting difficult. So, showers have delayed harvesting for almost a week. Further rain will also increase the moisture content in grains and it will be difficult for us to sell it in the market.”

Chief Agriculture Officer Gurditta Singh Brar said there had been no report of damage so far.

SAD leader Sikander Singh Maluka, who is also the party kisan wing president, on Wednesday demanded compensation for the damage to the crops due to untimely rain in the state.

Maluka said the wheat crop in the state was almost ready for harvesting and farmers, who were facing the economic crisis, had high hopes this year. He said untimely rain had caused damage to the crop at many places.

The SAD leader demanded that the state government should announce compensation for the farmers at the earliest.