Fresh rain adds to farmers woes in Haryana ahead of wheat harvesting
Farmers and agricultural experts say that unseasonal rain at this stage could spell doom for wheat and mustard growers of Haryana. Even as harvesting is likely to start from the first week of April, the third spell of rain in less than two weeks has turned farmers’ dreams of a bumper harvest into a nightmare.
Even as a special girdawari is underway to assess the loss of crops during the previous spell of rain, another downpour across Haryana has left farmers high and dry.
Farmers and agricultural experts say that unseasonal rain at this stage could spell doom for wheat and mustard growers of Haryana. Even as harvesting is likely to start from the first week of April, the third spell of rain in less than two weeks has turned farmers’ dreams of a bumper harvest into a nightmare.
As per the Indian Meteorological Department, the state reported 8.1mm rain on March 31, with Sonepat receiving the maximum 16.8mm rain followed by 16.5mm in Rewari, 15.7mm in Faridabad, 15.6mm in Panchkula, 15.5mm in Palwal, 15.4mm in Jhajjar, 8.8mm in Panipat, 9.8mm in Mahendergarh, 6.8mm each in Kurukshetra, Sirsa, Ambala and Rohtak and 5.6mm in Yamunanagar.
The figures revealed that the state has reported 41.6mm rains in the month of March against the normal 15mm.
Earlier, state agriculture department reports pointed to damage to around 5 lakh acres of wheat and 1.75 lakh acres of mustard crop. The figures suggested that around 80,000 farmers have reported crop damage on around 20 lakh acres under different crops and vegetables on the online portal. Officials said that more farmers may come forward to report their loss after this rain.
Experts said the rain will not only affect the yield but may also cause lustre loss. “Most of the crop was flattened by the rain and wind on March 20; the latest spell has caused waterlogging which is very harmful for wheat,” said Dalbeer Singh, a farmer of Ladwa.
The downpour has also delayed harvesting operations even though government agencies are likely to start wheat procurement from April 1.
“Rains will delay harvesting by over a week as wheat requires sun and hot weather for harvesting. The arrival of wheat in mandis is unlikely in the first week of April,” said Praveen Kumar, a commission agent of Nilokheri grain market.
Aditya Dabas, deputy director, agriculture, Karnal, said, “This rain is very harmful for wheat crop as it will not only cause yield loss but will also cause problems in harvesting as flattened crops cannot be harvested with combine harvesters and farmers will have to spend more on manual harvesting”
With the IMD predicting more rain in the next couple of days, the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research has issued an advisory saying that farmers have to take view of IMD forecast. “Wherever water stagnation occurs due to rain, farmers are advised to drain it,” reads the advisory.
With inputs from Bhavey Nagpal in Ambala
