Wheat sowing onerous task for farmers in flood-affected Lohian

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Advertisement

Jalandhar, October 26

Farmers at flood-hit Lohian get surrounded with restlessness and tension the moment they see their fields which are filled with silt and sand. They are worried if they will be able to sow wheat or not.

There is a common sight in the flood-hit villages of Lohian where farmers are trying to take silt and sand out of their fields with much difficulty.

Farmer Sarabjeet Singh from Gatta Mundi Kasu said that there were several farmers in the village who were convinced that they would not be able to sow wheat in their fields. “Some days are left to sow wheat, and fields still have water, silt and sand on the fields,” he said. Singh added that it seemed impossible that the farmers will be able to sow the next crop.

Farmers are coming together in groups, helping each other out. They do not want to leave any stone unturned.

The Tribune had recently highlighted that when the procurement had picked up pace in the state and mandis were thronged by farmers, growers in Lohian were in distress and are waiting for their fields to get dry as, shockingly, 500 acres are still submerged. The deluge had hit the area on July 10. Three months later, hundreds of acres of fields are filled with flood waters.

Most of the farmers belong to Mundi Cholian, Dhakka Basti, Mundi Shehrian, etc. They have nothing to sell as their crop has been damaged by floods.

Farmer Gulwinder Singh from Dhakka Basti, the worst affected village, had earlier shared that there was water up to 3 feet standing in his fields. “We already lost our paddy crop. Now, we are unsure if we will be able to sow the next crop. It is a bad time for us,” he said.