Deficient rain to hit crop yield

Tribune News Service

Solan, January 12

Deficient winter rain has become a cause for concern for farmers. The quantum of rain in December 2020 and January this year has been 25 to 60 per cent lower than the previous years.

There are no bore wells or irrigation facilities available in rural areas, and hence deficit rain in the next few weeks will further harm the farm economy in Solan and Sirmaur districts.

Harinder Singh, a farmer of Jaihar village in the Sarahan area of Sirmaur district, says, “There has been scanty rainfall in December 2020 and January this year and as a result the sowing of vegetables and other crops has been adversely hit”. He rues that if insufficient rain continues in the coming days as well, the production of crops will be much lower than the previous years.

“As there are no irrigation facilities in rural areas, farmers are dependent on rain to irrigate their fields. The crop yield has reduced to half this year and the production of vegetables has been less than half this year. If similar conditions continue, farmers will face tough times in the days to come,” he adds. Besides affecting the crop yield, it will also lead to a price rise, especially of vegetables.

Nikhil Thakur, a farmer of Kasauli village, says that there is a lack of moisture in the fields due to insufficient rain during the winter and this will affect the production of crops. It will also lead to higher prices of vegetables in the market.

Dr HR Sharma, head of department, Vegetable Sciences, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, says that in comparison to the previous years, the winter rain has been much less this time. In December 2020, the rain was about 25 per cent deficient while in January, it was 60 per cent lower than 2020 uptill now.

He, however, says that 30 mm to 40 mm has been received in January till now and this is adequate for vegetables such as pea, cauliflower, broccoli, green leafy vegetable, etc., grown these days

He advises the farmers not to worry as no additional irrigation measures will be required for the next 10 to 15 days, as there is adequate moisture in the air. He says that the lack of rain has, in fact, led to a lesser disease incidence this year.