More rain ahead, wheat yield to fall
Farmers in major wheat-growing states — Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh — are staring at huge losses as untimely rains coupled with hailstorms and gusty winds have already damaged the standing wheat crop.
The Meteorological Department on Sunday issued a fresh warning to farmers in Punjab and Haryana, predicting a fresh spell of rain over the next two days.
Wheat crop over 5.23 lakh hectares is estimated to have been damaged in three states — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh — due to the inclement weather, said officials. The assessment of wheat crop damage in Punjab and Haryana is underway, they said. This is the second consecutive year that farmers have been at the receiving end due to extreme weather conditions. Last year, heat wave had caused a drop in the wheat yield.
Due to rainfall, the damage to the standing wheat crop which was ready to be harvested was the maximum in the last two-three days, said agriculture experts.
Officials in the Ministry of Agriculture, meanwhile, said they would review the extent of the damage to the wheat crop along with the state governments on Monday.
Jitendra Singh, a wheat farmer from Seona village in Patiala, said, “Around 40 per cent of the wheat crop had already been damaged due to rains and gusty winds over the past few weeks. Any fresh spell will double the losses – as the crop is ready for harvest.” Dr OP Bishnoi, a wheat specialist at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, said: “If there is water stagnation in the field then earheads of wheat crop are likely to submerge in water, which will reduce the quality of the grain. If there is a hailstorm, it will lead to the shattering of the grain.” (With PTI inputs)
