Now, farmers in Haryana bear the brunt as smog delays wheat sowing
Due to inadequate sunshine, farmers waiting for fields to get dry as they have highmoisture content; first two weeks of Nov considered ideal for sowing
AGRICULTURE OFFICIALS SAY THE WEATHER WILL BE NORMAL BY THE NEXT WEEK AND THERE ARE LATERAL VARIETIES OF WHEAT WHICH CAN BE SOWN BY MIDDECEMBER
KARNAL: Stubble burning has turned out to be a trouble for farmers this time as well with dense smog caused by fires has delayed the sowing of wheat crop by a fortnight in several districts of the state.
Due to inadequate sunshine, worried farmers are waiting to their fields to get dried as they have high moisture content due to fog, so that they could start wheat sowing soon. The first two weeks of November are considered ideal for this.
“Weather is not suitable for wheat sowing as of now. We are waiting for our fields to dry for the past three weeks. It will take at least one more week as there was not sunshine for the past couple of days. Besides, there is also prediction of rain in the next few days,” said Sunil Kumar, a farmer from Karnal.
“We do not know the reason behind the delay, but there is too much moisture in the fields which need to be dry for tilling,” said Parveen Kumar, another farmer.
FARMERS REFUSE TO ACCEPT BURNING STRAW CAUSING SMOG
However, the farmers are not ready to acknowledge that burning of paddy residue cause the early fog. They said blaming crop burning for pollution is wrong and the government should also take action against the industries that pollute the air throughout the year.
“The problem is the highmoisture content in fields due to early fog, but by November 20 farmers can sow wheat as the weather has started improving for the past two days,” said Karam Chand, deputy director, Haryana agriculture department.
Also, the officials said the weather will be normal by the next week and there are lateral varieties of wheat which can be sown by mid-December.
With the annual wheat acreage about 25 lakh hectares in the state, wheat production remains 115 lakh tonnes. The farmers said the delay in sowing may bring down the per acre yield by 4-5 quintals.