Rains flatten paddy in Hry, growers anxious
Karnal, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Yamunanagar and Ambala dists which contribute nearly 75% of state’s paddy production are worst affected
KARNAL:The widespread rainfall in the northern part of the country for the past two days is proving disastrous for the paddy growers of the state, who were looking forward to a rich harvest this year.
As of now, the crop is flattened, fields are waterlogged and clouds are still hovering over the region with the Met predicting more rain for the next 24 hours.
As per reports collected by HT, the impact of the rain can be seen in the entire paddy sowing belt of Haryana. However, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Yamunanagar and Ambala districts, which contribute nearly 75% of the state’s paddy production, are the worst affected.
Officials in the state agriculture department said that the flattening of crop will have 25% to 35% impact on the production in the state, which was around 12 lakh hectares this year. Farmers said they would be at a loss of ₹16,000 to ₹25,000 per acre.
“My entire crop on 15 acres is flattened and the yield will be reduced to almost half as most of the crop was in the milking stage,” said Ajay Kamboj of Indri of Karnal district.
Meanwhile, the small and marginal farmers will be the worst hit as they largely depend on paddy production and even take land on rent. “My crop on five acres is submerged in water since past two days. Now it has turned black and developed germination. I don’t think I would even be able to recover my input cost,” said another distressed farmer Pradeep Kumar of Dumsi Jagir village of Karnal, who has taken six acres at ₹42,000 per acre rent.
OTHER CROPS TOO AFFECTED
The impact of rain is also visible on other crops such as cotton,
moong and bajra in Jind, Sonepat, Rohata, Fatehabad, Sirsa and Hisar districts.
“More that 60% damage to cotton and bajra besides paddy is
likely in Jind district, while many farmers fear a complete crop loss due to waterlogged fields,” said Ramphal Kandela, a farmers’ leader from Jind.
Bhartiya Kisan Union’s (BKU) Haryana state president Ratan Mann said, “The farmers are hopeless and they need the government’s support at this hour of need. We seek extra compensate to the affected farmers as the compensation under the insurance scheme is not sufficient.”
Officials in the agriculture department said they would assess the damage to crops four days after the rain stops and farmers would be given compensation according to the crop insurance scheme but as of now, there was no decision by the government to provide additional compensation.
“We have not taken estimates of crop loss yet, It will be started four days after the rain stops,” said Jagraj Dandi, joint director, Haryana agriculture department.
Meanwhile, district-level officials said the farmers have already started submitting their applications for crop loss and over 100 applications have been received at Karnal office alone.