Heavy rain, hailstorm worry farmers

Amritsar, April 6

The district received heavy rain and hailstorms late on Sunday evening, resulting in panic among farmers, who are readying for the harvest of the wheat crop. Farmers said they were waiting for the government to begin procurement of wheat. “The crop is fully ripened. It will be ready for harvest by the next week. The hailstorm has will result in lower yield as grains get washed down from the platns,” said Jagseer Singh, a farmer.

Vegetable growers are worried that crops such as watermelon, muskmelon and cucumber that require less irrigation would get heavily affected from the Sunday’s rain. Kuljit Singh, a farmer from Malawali village, said: “Hailstones were quite big and continued falling for almost 10 minutes.” He said small vegetables directly hit by the high-velocity hailstones have suffered heavy damage. He said farmers are already worried about how to manage the required labour during the harvest as the government has been asking the people to maintain social distance. — TNS

Wheat crop hit in Tarn Taran

Tarn Taran: Wheat crop on thousands of acres in the district suffered heavy damage from hailstorm and high-velocity winds late on Sunday night. Bhikhiwind and Chohla Sahib were the worst-hit blocks. According to information, Chohla Sahib, Pakhopura, Munda Pind, Karmunwala, Gharka and Rattoke villages in the Chohla Sahib block and Veeram, Pahuwind, Poohla and Sur Singh villages in the Bhikhiwind block were affected the most.

According to a report prepared by Chief Agriculture Officer Kuljit Singh, some villages such as Chohla Sahib, Gujarpura, Gharka, Pakhopura and Mundapind have suffered 100 per cent damage. Singh said the report would be forwarded to the district administration. Kanwalpret Singh Pannu, the state convener of the Kisan Sangharsh Committee, Punjab, has sought compensation for the farmers. — OC