Widespread rains lash Punjab, Hry; farmers fear wheat crop damage

Widespread rains lashed several parts of Punjab and Haryana on Friday, triggering fear among farmers about damage to wheat crop.

"Rains are not good at this stage and it will certainly affect yield of wheat crop," Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh said.

The AAP, the main opposition party in Punjab, sought special girdwari (crop loss assessment) of the wheat crop because of untimely rains and hailstorms.

Aam Aadmi Party MLA Harpal Singh Cheema, in a letter to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, demanded 100 per cent compensation for crop loss because of rains.

He claimed that rains and hailstorm damaged standing crops at several parts of the state.

 

However, a senior official of the Punjab agriculture department said the current spell of rain would not cause any damage to standing wheat crop but added that downpour should not accompany high velocity winds for this to happen.

If the rains are not accompanied by high velocity winds, then there is no need to worry, Punjab Agriculture Department Director Sutantar Kumar said.

Experts pointed out that high velocity winds could flatten wheat crop that would adversely impact the yield.

Punjab, known as the food bowl of the country, is expecting more than 175 lakh tonne of wheat output, the harvesting of which would start in April.

Chandigarh, the common capital of both states, received 4.4 mm of rain, as per meteorological department report released on Friday evening.

Among other places, Hisar was the wettest place in Haryana with 37 mm followed by Narnaul (30 mm).

Ambala, Karnal, Bhiwani, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala witnessed rainfall measuring 5 mm, 4 mm, 7 mm, 0.5 mm, 5 mm and 3 mm, respectively.

Following rains, the maximum temperatures also dropped several notches below normal and settled between 17 and 21 degrees Celsius.