Rain, hail leave wheat farmers worried in Punjab

Wheat faces the brunt of rain, strong wind in Amritsar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur districts; temperature dips across the state

AMRITSAR/JALANDHAR: Heavy rain and strong wind in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts on Saturday left wheat farmers worried.

Farmers showing their flattened wheat crop near Rajasansi in Amritsar on Saturday.(Sameer Sehgal/HT)

“Unseasonal rain and strong wind have the potential to damage the yield as this is the time when the wheat crop needs more protection,” says farmer Harjinder Singh of Begowal.

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Chief agriculture officer Kamaljit Singh says though rain is beneficial for crops such as wheat, mustard and gram, strong wind could affect them.

The rain brought down the temperature. Amritsar recorded a low of 13 degrees Celsius, five degrees below normal. While the Doaba belt received about 8mm of rainfall on Saturday morning, Amritsar district in Majha got 16.3 mm of rain with hail.

“The wheat crop has been damaged in Amritsar’s villages and surrounding areas. Crop sown along the Beas river has been submerged,” says Rattan Singh Randhawa, an Amritsar-based farmer leader.

Another farmer, Tajinderpal Singh, says: “The crop, which was ripe and ready for harvest, has been damaged due to the rain.”