Rain hits crops in low-lying areas

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, December 14

The nightlong rainfall in the district will have a damaging effect on the wheat crop sown in low-lying areas.

Amrik Singh, Agricultural Officer, said the worst-affected areas were the Puranashala and Dorangal belts.

“The entire stretch is a low-lying one and hence is waterlogged. More rain is expected to lash the area. Some villages in and around Gurdaspur city, like Abul Khair and Mirpur, too have been affected. Farmers who were hoping to sow wheat in the end of December and early January have been left in the lurch. They were to sow wheat late because they are yet to clear their sugarcane crop. Wheat can be sown only after sugarcane crop is cleared,” said Dalbagh Singh Lally Cheema.

“There is an acute labour shortage in the district following which the sugarcane crop cannot be harvested which, in turn, means wheat cannot be sown. The wheat crop sown in November will survive. However, the crop sown in the last one week has been flattened,” said Cheema.

Another farmer, Harpreet Singh Rinku Dala, claimed the rain was good for vegetables, particularly cauliflower, that is grown in large quantities in the Dera Baba Nanak block.