Extreme weather dashes farmers’ hopes

Tribune News Service

Deepender Deswal

Bhiwani/Hisar, January 19

With the minimum temperature plunging in Hisar, continuous frost and freezing cold have given a blow to the mustard crop and vegetables in the region.

Farmers report that the mustard plants which are at the flowering stage have suffered significant damage which can result in crop failure.The farmers complain that the mustard crop in many villages of Bhiwani, Hisar and Mahendergarh (especially in non-irrigated agriculture areas) is at high risk due to continuous frost for the past four to five days. The frost and cold conditions are likely to continue for the next few days. Bhiwani has a total area of 3.75 lakh acres and Hisar has around 2.4 lakh acres under mustard this rabi season.

Dayanand Punia, a farmer in Siwani block of Bhiwani district, said there were many villages such as Siwani, Leelas, Gaindawas, Jhuppa Kalan and Jhuppa Kurd, that did not have canal-based irrigation facilities. “These villages mainly grow mustard and gram (chana) during the rabi season. Since these areas are located close to Rajasthan, the minimum temperature has been recorded at freezing points for the past some days. Mustard and chana are highly vulnerable crops under such weather conditions,” Punia said.

Satyawan Singh, a farmer of Bahbalpur village, who has sown mustard on two acres said the plants were at the flowering stage. “I have observed that nearly 80 per cent of the crop in my field have been damaged. The plants that are damaged are unlikely to revive even if there is an increase in the temperature in the next few days,” he stated. Dr Ram Avtar, mustard breeder scientist at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University (HAU), Hisar, said the low temperature and frost for continuous three to four days have definitely damaged the mustard crop in the non-irrigated and low-lying areas, especially in Bhiwani, Mahendergarh and parts of Hisar district. However, he said it would take one week to assess the loss.

The HAU scientist said the farmers who had resorted to light irrigation during this season would be less impacted. “There seems to be less impact of frost on mustard fields at the farms of the university in Hisar as we have been resorting to light irrigation,” he said. The freezing cold and frost are likely to occur for one more day after which the minimum temperature is likely to improve a bit, he said.

Dr Atma Ram Godara, Deputy Director, Agriculture Department, Bhiwani, said the impact of weather was visible on the mustard crop, but it would take some time to assess the exact losses, he said.

Mustard area

Hisar 2.4L acres

Bhiwani 3.75L acres

Crop in non-irrigated areas at high risk: Experts

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