Paddy fields flattened in Sonepat, Panipat

Panipat, September 24

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Continual rain in the region increased the worry of farmers in Panipat and Sonepat. Farmers are worried a lot as the paddy crop in these two districts is in the flowering stage. Farmers said if the rain continued for long, their standing crop would be damaged. In Gohana, Mundlana and Kathura blocks, fields were waterlogged and standing paddy crop had flattened.

“If rain continues for a few more days, it will damage the paddy in the region. Most of the paddy in the region is sown late and it is in the flowering stage,” said Bhagat Singh, a farmer of Bhainswan Khurd village in the Kathura block of Sonepat district. Around 1ft-2ft water is there in the fields and the paddy crop has been flattened, he added.

Devender Kuhar, subject matter specialist (SMS) in the Agriculture Department said paddy crop was sown in 2.25 lakh acres in Sonepat and 90 per cent farmers had sown late varieties of paddy.

“Three blocks in the district— Kathura, Mundlana and Gohana — face waterlogging problem, so we have advised the farmers to stop harvesting cotton and millet in the region till the rain does not stop, he said.

Wazir Singh, Deputy Director, Agriculture Department in Panipat said 95 per cent farmers had sown varieties of basmati paddy in around 1.80 lakh acres in the district while 5-7 per cent was of hybrid crop. Due to continuous rain in the last three days in the region, there was a loss to hybrid crop, he said.