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Untimely rains, hailstorm hit crops in Haryana
Haryana agriculture minister JP Dalal said that girdawari will be initiated to access the crop loss in affected districts and the state government is standing with the farmers in this hour of need.
Unseasonal heavy rain accompanied by hailstorm and gusty winds have flattened and damaged the unripe wheat, barley, mustard and gram crops in Haryana’s Rohtak, Sonepat, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Hisar and some pockets of Jind district on Saturday.
Farmers’ dreams of getting a bumper harvest were shattered when the climatic conditions changed, resulting in rainfall accompanied by gusty winds and hailstorm.
Prakshit Nandal, a farmer from Bohar village in Rohtak, said that his wheat crop has been damaged after hailstorm that continued for nearly 20 minutes.
“We would have harvested the crop after a month, but all our hopes were dashed due to the hailstorm. The government should initiate a special girdawari and provide us compensation at the earliest,” he added.
Ravinder, a farmer from Rohat village in Sonepat, said that the untimely rainfall and hailstorm has damaged his 80% wheat and mustard crops.
“The wheat crop will reflect change in the colour after three days and the rainfall will deteriorate the wheat quality,” he added.
Lilu Ram, a farmer from Sulkhani village in Hisar, was worried after his mustard crop on 8 acres was flattened due to heavy rain and hailstorm.
“My crop was ready for harvesting in the next 15 days, but it got destroyed due to the untimely rains. This time, we were expecting better yield and sudden change in western winds shattered our dreams. The government should provide ₹60,000 per acre compensation for our damaged crop,” he added.
Haryana agriculture minister JP Dalal said that girdawari will be initiated to access the crop loss in affected districts and the state government is standing with the farmers in this hour of need.
“We are standing shoulder to shoulder with farmers and crop loss assessment will be done by the revenue officials and farmers will be compensated for their crop loss. Deputy commissioners have been directed to take reports from agricultural and revenue officials about the loss of crops,” he added.
Lightning kills 2 in Kurukshetra
The deceased were identified as Saroj Bala, 50, and her son, Raman Saini, 29, both residents of Khirki village of the district.
