Punjab farmers fear wheat crop damage due to rains
Heavy rains, strong winds, and hailstorms hit several parts of Punjab, including Bathinda and Ludhiana, causing significant concern among wheat farmers as their crops, ready for harvest, were flattened. Farmers fear reduced yields, prompting political leaders, including Shiromani Akali Dal’s Sukhbir Singh Badal and Congress’s Partap Singh Bajwa, to demand compensation and a government survey (girdawari) to assess the damage.
Chandigarh, Mar 30 (PTI) With rains lashing many parts of Punjab on Saturday, wheat growers expressed fear that unseasonal showers could damage their standing crops.
Rains with strong winds and hailstorms at some places lashed Punjab’s several parts, including Bathinda, Fazilka, Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar and Pathankot.
Heavy rains with strong winds came at a time when the wheat crop was ready for harvesting. Wheat procurement season starts on April 1 in Punjab and Haryana.
Several farmers rued that their crops got flattened because of rains and high-velocity winds, which will hit the crop yield.
A farmer in Bathinda said the yield of his wheat crop will be affected because of untimely rains.
Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal asked Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to order a ‘girdawari’ to assess crop damage due to rains and hailstorms.
“Unseasonal rain and hailstorms have flattened the wheat crop across vast swathes in the Malwa region of the state. This is a double blow to farmers who faced a hailstorm some time back.
“CM @BhagwantMann should order a girdawari to assess damage to the wheat crop as well as provide interim compensation to farmers immediately,” SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said in a post on X.
His wife and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal said, “Today’s hailstorm in the Malwa region, the second in a month, has flattened and destroyed wheat crops across vast swathes in Punjab. Farmers, who have not been compensated for the earlier crop damage, should be awarded interim compensation immediately till such time the girdwari is not ordered and completed”.
Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa said untimely rain and hailstorms once again wreaked havoc in Punjab.
“The wheat farmers are once again at the receiving end. The farmers suffered awfully due to incessant rain last year too, however, the Punjab CM @BhagwantMann-led Punjab govt failed miserably to get the survey (girdawari) done to provide compensation. Farmers survived the floods without any financial assistance from the @AAPPunjab govt.
“Similarly, the AAP won’t provide financial assistance to the farmers, whose crops were damaged by the hailstorm last night. It’s been proven now that the AAP is the anti-farmers govt,” Bajwa said in a post.
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