Haryana farmers stare at losses due to unseasonal rains - Hindustan Times
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Haryana farmers stare at losses due to unseasonal rains

By, Sunil Rahar, Karnal/rohtak:
Apr 04, 2023 12:43 AM IST

Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala said 1.25 lakh farmers in the state have registered their 6.25-lakh acre of crops damaged due to the rain on the Kshatipurti portal. However, the number of the affected farmers is likely to increase further as the state has received fresh rains on April 1

Sumit Kumar, a farmer from Ratangarh Majra village of Yamunanagar district, was looking to buy a second-hand tractor after wheat harvesting but the unseasonal rains came like a bolt from the blue causing a huge loss to his crop and shattering his dreams of a bumper harvest.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday inspected affected fields in Tigrana village of Bhiwani district. He said the affected farmers will be compensated as per the special girdawari reports. Unseasonal rains have wreaked havoc on crops in the state. (HT Photo)
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday inspected affected fields in Tigrana village of Bhiwani district. He said the affected farmers will be compensated as per the special girdawari reports. Unseasonal rains have wreaked havoc on crops in the state. (HT Photo)

Having around 10 acres of agriculture land, Sumit has grown wheat on eight acres. Expecting a bumper crop, he wanted to buy a tractor as he does not want to borrow tractor from other farmers.

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He said farmers were expecting a bumper crop this year as the yield could have reached 25 quintals against the normal 20-22 quintals. But due to the rains, the yield will remain around 15-16 quintals.

“Repeated rains have caused a loss of 8 to 10 quintals per acre. I am expecting a total loss of 1.50 lakh in wheat and 50,000 in fodder,” he added.

Girdawari to reveal damage

Officials of the state agriculture department said the exact figures of damage to crops will only be assessed after the completion of the special girdawari but the initial reports from the districts revealed that the rains have affected 7 lakh acres of standing crops, including five lakh under the wheat crop.

Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala said 1.25 lakh farmers in the state have registered their 6.25-lakh acre of damaged crop on the Kshatipurti portal. However, the number of the affected farmers is likely to increase further as the state has received fresh rains on April 1 and following the complaints of the farmers, the state government has reopened the portal allowing farmers to report their damage. Besides wheat, mustard crop is also affected as the initial reports suggest damage to around 1.65 lakh acres of mustard crop in the state, he said.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday inspected affected fields in Tigrana village of Bhiwani district. He said the affected farmers will be compensated as per the special girdawari reports.

“The government stands with farmers in every situation. The compensation for damaged crops will be provided in May after the girdawari,” the chief minister said.

Harvesting of flattened crop another challenge for farmers

Harvesting of the flattened crop is another challenge for farmers. They said machines cannot harvest the flattened crops properly and there are not enough labourers for manual harvesting. Farmers said they have to find out labourers for manual harvesting. Though the government has started the procurement operations from April 1, there are no arrival in mandis as farmers have not started harvesting yet. “Combine harvesters and reaper binders cannot harvest the flattened crops and manual harvesting is expensive. We are reaching out to labourers so that they can harvest a few acres to lessen the losses,” said Raj Kumar, a farmer from Ladwa whose 15 acres under wheat are flattened due to the rain.

Govt may revise procurement targets

The state has a total of 58.70 lakh acres under the wheat cultivation and the government was earlier expecting to procure 85 lakh MT wheat this year. But now the government may revise its targets following damage reports.

Pankaj Agarwal, commissioner and secretary, Haryana food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department, said earlier they had set a target of procuring 85 lakh MT of wheat on MSP and arrangements have been made according.

On whether the state government will write to the Centre for relaxation of procurement norms, he said they are collecting reports from districts and the decision will be taken accordingly. But it is learnt that the Union government has also asked Haryana to revise its procurement target to 75 lakh MT following the reports of damage to crop.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Neeraj Mohan is a correspondent, covering Karnal, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Panipat and Yamunanagar districts of Haryana.

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