Untimely rains flatten wheat, mustard crops in Haryana

In some parts of the state, wheat and mustard crops, which were set to be harvested in next three to four weeks, have been damaged due to hailstorm

Untimely rains accompanied by strong winds and hailstorm have flattened wheat, mustard, barley and other crops across Bhiwani, Rohtak, Sonepat, Dadri, Hisar and Mahendergarh districts.

A farmer shows flattened wheat crop in Bohar village of Rohtak district. (Manoj Dhaka/HT)

Crop damage is also being reported from other parts of the state.

Haryana agriculture minister JP Dalal on Thursday visited the affected areas of his constituency Loharu in Bhiwani district. “Strong winds and rains have flattened standing crops of wheat, barley and mustard,” he said.

“In some parts of the state, wheat and mustard crops, which were set to be harvested in next three to four weeks, have been damaged due to hailstorm. We have ordered girdawari (process to assess crop losses due to poor weather) in the affected areas. The district and revenue officials have been asked to prepare a survey report about percentage of crop loss due to hailstorm and gusty winds,” he added.

Clearing the doubt over crop compensation to affected farmers, minister Dalal said all such farmers will get relief whether they had enrolled their crop under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) or not.

Vijender Nandal, a farmer from Rohtak’s Bohar village, said the exact loss will be ascertained within two to three days after the wheat crop will face sunlight and winds.

“Waterlogging has been reported in fields which were irrigated in past few days. The damage is more in areas where farmers had gone for early sowing of wheat. Due to untimely rain and hailstorm, the seeds of wheat will turn black and the purchasing agencies will buy the produce at lower prices. These last two days have turned out to be a nightmare for us. Our crops have been damaged and the remaining produce will not fetch good price due to change in colour and moisture,” he rued.

Ajit Jaglan, a farmer from Bhiwani’s Kalali village, said the damage was more in mustard crop followed by wheat, which was nearing maturity.