Rain flattens crop, arrival in mandis yet to gather pace

The incessant rain, accompanied by strong wing, in the state flattened paddy crop at several places on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, farmers and officials in the state Agriculture Department are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping that this may not affect the yield or the quality of the crop.

The highest rainfall was received in Patiala, Mohali and Ludhiana, though showers were witnessed in most districts of Malwa and some in Majha regions.

Inquiries made by The Tribune from mandis in Malwa revealed that the paddy that has been arriving for the past two days has higher than prescribed moisture limit. Only when the rains stop, farmers will be able to dry the paddy and then sell it.

So far, small quantity of paddy has been harvested. Of 1,822 mandis in Punjab, paddy has arrived in only 738. Till October 6, 8.27 lakh metric tonnes of paddy had arrived in the mandis, of which 4.84 lakh metric tonnes was yet to be lifted.