Clear sky, low temp will help crop to recover, say experts

JALANDHAR: In a relief to farmers, who are staring at losses after three days of incessant rainfall spoilt their near-mature paddy crop, agriculture experts on Tuesday said sunshine without wind is good for the crop.

As per the information, the downpour flattened paddy, which was ready to ripe and farmers were to sell it from October 1 onwards.

However, they said, the sunshine won’t recover the seeds spoilt during the pollination process or the crop damaged due to flattening but the paddy which is still standing won’t spoil and direct sunshine will help to dry the fields.

“The temperature should remain low and constant as rising temperature could lead to increased humidity, making the crop prone to diseases, which might spoil the crop,” agriculture development officer (ADO) Resham Singh said.

He said the lodging of standing crop is not as widespread as the farmers were predicting.

“If the clear sky and sunshine continues in coming days, it will help to recover the affected crop,” the ADO said.

Satnam Singh, a farmer from Phagwara, who cultivated paddy on 25 acre said the three-day rain didn’t affect the crop much and if the weather remains favourable they could expect a good yield of paddy.

Hardeep Singh, another farmer from Jalandhar, said about 30% of paddy in their fields has been lodged. “We hope that the remaining crop doesn’t spoil, otherwise we will have to suffer heavy losses,” he said. Mid-term crop cycle disturbed Agriculture experts said, though the damage has not been assessed yet, the yield of paddy will be affected. Paddy is being cultivated on the area of 30 lakh hectares in Punjab.

Meanwhile, paddy harvesting has been delayed by 10 to 15 days, which will disturb the mid-term crop cycle.

Mid-term crops include potatoes, carrot, cauliflower and peas of which Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur districts are a hub.