Heavy rains in most parts of Punjab and Haryana last week have damaged cotton and paddy crops. Water inundated low-lying areas couple of days before harvesting was to start from September 25.
The two states were expecting a bumper crop but smiles have vanished from the faces of farmers. Areas bordering Rajasthan have also bore the brunt of heavy rain, reports from the agricultural departments of the state governments reveal.
?How can a farmer harvest the crop if the paddy fields are inundated questioned B.S. Duggal, additional director of agriculture, Haryana. He said that damage to the crop was extensive as rains had accompanied strong winds and had led to flattening of standing crop, which was almost ready for harvesting. The continuous rains have partially damaged the paddy crop which is expected to be harvested within next couple of days,? informed director of agriculture, Punjab, B.S. Sidhu.
Ironically, rains have damaged crops at time when farmers in Punjab and Haryana had increased area under paddy this year anticipating higher minimum support price. In Punjab, area under paddy this year has been increased about 60,000 hectares more than the previous year while in Haryana, cultivation area was up by about 90,000 hectares. Punjab and Haryana, which are the major states for growing paddy, have brought 26.70 lakh hectares and 11.50 lakh hectares of area respectively for crop cultivation this year.
Punjab had set a target of 155 lakh tonne of paddy this season while Haryana was targeting about 60 lakh tonne. The paddy procurement is expected to start from October 1 in Punjab this year while in Haryana will start from September 25. Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) president Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, who is also the Punjab Mandi Board chairman, confirmed that in line with the Centre’s policy, the BKU has urged the state government to start paddy procurement from September 25 itself. However, Punjab’s agriculture minister Sucha Singh Langah told FE that the procurement would start only from October 1 as scheduled by which time the procurement infrastructure would be in place.
Meanwhile, rivers like Yamuna, Sutlej, Beas, Ravi and Ghaggar are flowing above danger market due to incessant rains in Punjab and Haryana. In fact Bhakhra Beas management authorities have sounded an alert. The water level at Gobind Sagar reservoir has crossed the danger mark of 1680 feet and on Monday it was above danger mark at 1680.80 feet.
