Major crop loss in Haryana due to unseasonal rains, 17k farmers apply for relief

Unseasonal heavy rains in January may have shattered the dreams of a bumper rabi harvest of Haryana farmers as thousands of acres of standing crop is in an inundated state or damaged, forcing the farmers to apply for crop-loss relief

Unseasonal heavy rains in January may have shattered the dreams of a bumper rabi harvest of Haryana farmers as thousands of acres of standing crop is in an inundated state or damaged, forcing the farmers to apply for crop-loss relief.

As many as 16,617 farmers have applied for compensation under the Prime Minister Fasal Bima Yojana. (HT Photo)

As per figures, total 16,617 aggrieved farmers have applied for compensation under the Prime Minister Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) claiming 50-100% loss to around 50,000 acre wheat, mustard, barley and gram covered under the scheme.

As per officials of the state agriculture department, the applications are coming in from almost all districts. But there are reports that water stagnation caused by rains has damaged thousands of acres of standing mustard, wheat and barley crops in the northern and southern parts of Haryana.

Officials said maximum 2,538 applications are received from Mustard-growing district of Rewari, 2,110 from Ambala, 1,806 from Sonepat, 1,770 from Rohtak, 1,435 from Nuh, 1,433 from Charkhi Dadri, 930 from Kurukshetra, 910 from Bhiwani and 901 from Jind.

Moreover, officials are expecting that the impact of rain is widespread and beyond as only 30% of the total cultivated area has been covered under the PMFBY as most of the farmers are reluctant to buy crop insurance. There are large numbers of farmers who have opted out of the crop insurance scheme and now they are also demanding compensation.

“Rain has damaged my 17 acre potato crop. There is also a bad impact of water stagnation on wheat and mustard crops but we do not have any insurance cover,” said farmer Rakesh Kumar of Shahbad in Kurukshetra district.

Haryana state agriculture department joint director (statics) Dr Jagraj Dandi said around 1,67,000 farmers have applied for compensation and the process of ground-level physical verification has already been started. Farmers will get relief as per the assessment report by the ground-level committee.

On being asked about compensation to vegetable and other crop growers, Haryana department of agriculture and farmers’ welfare director general Hardeep Singh said the process to provide relief to farmers is underway.

Earlier last month, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, during his visit to Yamunanagar, had announced that farmers facing extensive damage will be compensated by conducting a special girdawari.