EXCESSIVE RAIN CAUSES CROP DAMAGE

BY HARSHIT
A small example: Usman Ali, a farmer, holds hailstones in his
hand as he sits amid his damaged crops following heavy rainfall
and hailstorm in Bathinda, Saturday, March 14, 2020. Photo:
PTI.

New Delhi: Farmers in several parts of north India have seen

their crops severely damaged due to unseasonal rains and
hailstorms over the last week. According to the Times of India,
over four lakh hectares of agricultural land has been affected
and rabi season crops damaged.

While Uttar Pradesh has been the worst hit, crops have also
been hit in parts of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Bihar.
According to Sky Met Weather, the loss is likely to be valued at
Rs 255 crore in Uttar Pradesh alone, affecting 6.5 lakh farmers.

“State government will provide compensation only after crop

loss estimation. Unfortunately, such an exercise takes a lot of
time. Many farmers will have nothing to survive on till then,”
Subhash Chaudhury, a UP farmer, told the Times of India.
When farmers were already trying to cope with the losses they
had incurred after the last hailstorm in February, March 4 saw
fresh hailstorms in Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. After
losing 50 per cent to 90 per cent of their standing crops to storm
and erratic rains, several farmers’ organizations now seek
compensation.

“Mustard, barley, wheat and grams were destroyed in many

parts of Rajasthan. So we demand immediate relief for
farmers,” says Rampal Jat of Kisan Mahapanchayat, a
Rajasthan-based farmers’ organization.

Hailstorm and heavy rain lashed Rajasthan's Sikar district and

its adjoining areas, Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura and Haryana’s
Mewat district. In February, Bundelkhand region of Uttar
Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, and Marathwada and Vidarbha
regions of Maharashtra also faced unpredictable hailstorms.
Moreover, the storm also claimed lives of three farmers.

According to a media report, more than 124,000 hectares of

farmland spread over 1,086 villages in Maharashtra was
affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms in early February.
in Gujarat, farmers in Saurashtra, North and Central Gujarat
were caught unawares by the unseasonal rains and faced
damages to their harvested crops. Hailstorm with strong winds
damaged stocks of freshly-harvested garlic, wheat, pulses and
castor in Central Gujarat and Saurashtra. Produce lying in
marketyards has also sustained damage. Also, the heavy winds
hit horticulture crops such as mango and pomegranate.

“Many of the farmers had either completed the harvest or were

in the process of harvesting. The untimely rains and hailstorms
will impact the quality of the crops," said Ramesh Bhoraniya, a
farmer from Rajkot district.

With inputs from Rutam Vora in Ahmedabad