Jowar, bajra damaged in Palwal villages

Palwal, September 24

Torrential rains have caused damage to crops leaving farmers in several villages worried. A demand for a special girdwari (loss survey) has been raised.

“The kharif crops of cotton, bajra, jowar and paddy have been damaged due to waterlogging caused by heavy rain,” said sources in the Agriculture Department. It is claimed that while the exact loss or damage can be assessed only after a field survey, the water has accumulated upto 3ft-4ft on more than hundreds of hectares of land. Rajkumar Ohlyan, a farmer from Gughera village, said the crops such as bajra and paddy, which were ready to be harvested had suffered major loss as the crops were flattened. The delay in harvesting could ultimately create hurdles in sowing wheat in many areas. He said farmers were worried about the damage so the government should order a survey and release the relief besides ensuring de-watering measures in the affected villages. “Cotton crop in several acres has been ruined due to rain,” says Ajit, a farmer of Banchari village. He said the matter had been brought to the notice of the officials concerned already.

According to official sources the rain recorded in the past two days was around 120 mm in Palwal section, 96 mm in Hodal, 52 mm in Hathin and 34 mm in Hasanpur subdivision till Saturday morning. The rains have affected the standing crops in around 61,000 hectares it is claimed. This includes cotton in 18,140 hectare, paddy in 25,183 hectare, jowar in 14,307 hectare, bajra in 4,000 and sugarcane in 4,640 hectare. “With the damage to almost all Kharif crops, the water standing in the fields needs to be removed as soon as possible to avoid further loss,” says Dr Mahvir Malik, an agriculture expert.

The Agriculture Department has asked the farmers who have ensured their crops to inform the department about the loss within 72 hours, said an official. He said farmers should fill the form and submit it, so that the insurance company could be informed about the damage caused.

Canal breaches in Hisar

The heavy rain has led to the overflowing of the canal due a breach in it near Rohnat village in Bhiwani district. This has inundated the standing crops in several acres. The villagers said a breach had occurred in the Sunder branch, which inundated nearly 300 acres. A senior agriculture official said the rain would damage the crops that were in the harvesting stage. tns

Cotton belt worst hit as pink ballworm had caused havoc earlier

• Hisar: The widespread rain lashing the region since Friday has caused extensive damage to kharif crops of cotton, paddy, bajra, guar and moong
• Cotton farmers are the worst hit as the previous spells of rain and pink bollworm have already caused enough damage to the crop
• The region comprising Hisar, Bhiwani, Fatehabad and Sirsa is known as the cotton belt. Besides, the region also grows paddy, bajra and guar crops
• The kharif crops are at the harvesting stage and the rain has already flattened. The fields are inundated in Hisar