Farmers can delay harvesting till April 20 as temperatures still below average: ICAR

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 2

With temperatures in most of wheat-growing areas still below long-term average, the ICAR has said farmers can delay harvesting by at least 10-15 days beyond April 10.

Farmers can delay wheat harvesting till April 20 without incurring any significant loss, says the advisory issued by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in the wake of the COVID-19 spread.

The advisory includes precautions to farmers for harvesting and threshing of rabi crops, including wheat, and post-harvest, storage and marketing of farm produce.

Harvesting and handling of the produce, including its movement to the market, are inevitable as the agricultural operations are time-bound. However, famers should take simple safety measures to prevent the disease spread, including social distancing, maintaining personal hygiene by washing of hands with soap, wearing of face mask, protective clothing and cleaning of implements and machinery. Workers should follow safety measures and social distancing at each and every step in the entire process of field operations, the ICAR said.

The temperature in most of wheat-growing areas is still below long-term average and therefore likely to delay wheat harvesting by at least 10-15 days beyond April 10, therefore, farmers can delay wheat harvesting till April 20 without incurring any significant loss, which gives enough time to manage logistics for procurement and announcement of dates, it added.

Rabi paddy in grain filling stage in southern states is widely affected due to neck blast incidence, so adequate precautions should be taken while spraying of recommended fungicide by contract sprayers/ farmers.

In case of any unseasonal rain at harvesting stage in paddy, spray 5% salt solution to prevent seed germination, as per the ICAR.

In case of manual field operations of harvesting/picking, the operation should be accomplished in 4-5 feet spaced strips assigning one strip to one person.

This will ensure adequate spacing between the engaged labourers.

All the persons engaged should use masks and ensure hand washing with soap at reasonable intervals and maintain safe distance of 3-4 feet during rest, taking of meals, transfer of produce at collection point, loading/unloading.

Stagger the field operations wherever possible and avoid engaging more number of persons on the same day and  engage only familiar persons to the extent possible and after reasonable enquiry as to avoid the entry of any suspect or likely carrier during field activity.

The ICAR said farmers should prefer mechanized operations over the manual wherever feasible and only the essential numbers of persons should be allowed to accompany the machine.

All machines should be sanitized at the entry point and at regular intervals as also all transport vehicles, gunny bags or other packaging material.

The collection of the produce may be done in small heaps spaced at 3-4 feet and field level processing should be assigned to 1-2 persons/heap to avoid crowding, it said.

Proper sanitation and cleanliness of threshers for harvested maize and groundnut is to be maintained, especially when machines are shared and used by farmer groups.

Copious washing of machine parts frequently touched with soap is advised. For performing drying, threshing, winnowing, cleaning, grading, sorting and packaging operations at the farm level, wearing of protective face masks may help against aerosols and dust particles to prevent respiratory difficulties.

The advisory calls for ensuring proper drying prior to storage of harvested grains, millets, pulses at farm/home.

Do not reuse previous seasons’ jute bags to prevent pest infestation, use treated and dried gunnies after soaking in 5% neem solution, it says.

Adequate precautions should be taken for storage of produce at the farm in jute bags that are made available in sufficient numbers to farmers or in nearby cold storages/ godowns/warehouses, if needed for better price realization.

It also advised adequate personal safety measures for loading and transporting of farm produce and while participating in sale at market yards/auction platforms.

Agricultural and allied activities exempted from lockdown

Veterinary hospitals

Agencies engaged in procurement of agriculture products, including MSP operations

‘Mandis’ operated by the Agriculture Produce Market Committee as notified by the State Government

Farming operations by farmers and farm workers in the field

Custom hiring centres (CHC) related to farm machinery

Manufacturing and packaging units of Fertilizers, Pesticides and Seeds

Intra and inter-state movement of harvesting and sowing related machines like combined harvester and other agriculture/ horticulture implements