Paddy yield down in flood-affected areas

Parvesh Sharma

Sangrur, November 3

As if the floods and the subsequent alleged failure of the state government in providing adequate compensation to affected farmers were not enough, now the per acre production of paddy has also gone down in flood-affected areas. Many farmers have got around 24 quintals of paddy per acre against 32 quintals last year.

24 quintals per acre

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• Many farmers have got around 24 quintals of paddy per acre against 32 quintals last year
• The crop did not got the required time to ripen and cold weather also played spoilsport

“I have so far harvested crop on four acres. I have got 24 quintals per acre from three acres and 20 quintals from the remaining one acre. The per acre production of paddy will see a dip in all flood-affected areas as paddy was sown late,” said Jasveer Singh, a farmer from Phullad village.

In July, at 30 villages in Sangrur district, 72 breaches in the Ghaggar had caused damage to 37,000 acres of paddy. Despite letters to the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary, many affected farmers have not got any financial aid. The decline in the per acre paddy production has further multiplied their problems.

“Farmers have got around 24 quintals of paddy per acre, while last year it was around 32 quintals. It has happened because the crop did not get the required time to ripen. Secondly, cold weather is also a problem. Earlier, the government failed to give us any compensation for floods. Now at least, it should compensate us for this loss,” said Rinku Moonak, BKU-Ugrahan Moonak block general secretary.

Another farmer Jasmer Singh said he had taken a loan from a private moneylender to resow paddy. With a decline in production, he would now not even be able to recover his input cost.

“In majority parts of the district, there is an increase of 6-7 per cent in the production of paddy. To ascertain the decline in paddy production in flood-affected areas, we will conduct crop-cutting experiments,” said Harbans Singh, Sangrur Chief Agriculture Officer.