Hailstorm, rain continue to trouble farmers

Jalandhar, April 24

Farmers seem to be on the receiving end. Already two days of rains and high-velocity winds had troubled the farmers as their wheat crop was flattened. It was only yesterday that procurement agencies had written to the Deputy Commissioner (DC) that they could not procure the wheat crop coming to mandis, this evening rain along with hailstorm and high-speed wind have proven to be detrimental to the fully matured wheat crops.

Agriculture department officials said such a weather was not expected at this time and this was going to be a challenging task for the farmers now as they will have a hard time in harvesting the crop. This would affect the quality and would damage the crop, they said.

The farmers said it was difficult for them to survive such a weather and they did not know what the future had in store for them.

From April 15 to April 17, rain and high-velocity winds damaged crops in some of the districts of the state, leaving farmers worried. Reports of wheat crop flattening had received from some areas of Jalandhar.

The agencies, Pungrain, Markfed and FCI in the Bhogpur, Kartarpur, Phillaur, Mehatpur and Nakodar areas, in their letters to the Deputy Commissioner had said 80-90 per cent of the wheat that had arrived in mandis had lost its lustre and the moisture content had also gone up and in such a condition it was not possible to procure the crop as it would be prone to pests too.

Moisture content increased, say agencies

The agencies said the moisture content had risen from 14 per cent to 18 per cent whereas the normal moisture content was 12 per cent. — TNS