A drought last year is followed by a flood for the kharif crop this year. The farmers of Haryana and Punjab are in a dilemma as their fields have been submerged for over 72 hours due to floods in the region.
The loss in agriculture in terms of inputs and mandays is estimated to be Rs 900 crore in Haryana and Punjab.
The small and marginal farmers of Punjab and Haryana may get caught into deeper debt trap due to this loss.
The rescue operations are progressing at a snail’s pace despite mild rainshowers in the last 48 hours.
About 500,000 hectare area in Haryana in Kurukshetra, Karnal, Kaithal and Ambala is still under water. According to an official in the Agriculture Department of Haryana: “This belt contributes about 45 per cent of the total production of paddy in the state. About 75 per cent of the area under paddy has been transplanted till now. The paddy plant cannot survive under water for over 72 hours, so the farmers would lose all the transplanted paddy.”
According to Rashtriya Kisan Sangathan Gurcharan Singh Vice-President Thind, the average yield in this pocket of Haryana is about 50 quintal per hectare, so a crop loss in an area of 500,000 hectare result into an estimated loss of 2.5 million tonne of paddy.
There was about two feet of water in the fields of district Ambala and kurukshetra till the filing of this report.
The farmers had a difficult time this year for the transplantation as the migration labour available was insufficient.
Harbans Singh of village Mohri district Ambala told that they paid through their nose to the labourers (Rs 2000 per acre as compared to Rs 700-Rs 800 last year) for paddy transplantation. The entire investment is drained out.
“The additional cost of irrigation due to scanty rainfall made a dent on our resources last year but it seems worse this year,” he added.
A senior official in the Haryana Agriculture Department told that the paddy (basmati) can be transplanted till the end of July. So if the water is drained out in next two days, the farmers can replant. But he acknowledged that the availbility of a nursery would be a constraint.
Harpal Singh, a farmer in Naggal area said that even if they are provided with nursery, they would bear a loss of Rs 10,000 per hectare.
“The fertilisers put before sowing have been completely washed out in floods. Nitrogenous fertilisers would have to be added. Arranging labour for transplantation and cost of paddy saplings besides fertilisers would cost us about Rs 10,000 per hectares.”
Going by this, it would be a loss of Rs 500 crore in Haryana in terms of loss of mandays and inputs.
The floods would effect the small and marginal farmers more severely as they seek funds from the private moneylenders to cultivate their fields. They will have to draw fresh funds to replant their field, said Mukhtyar Singh of village Dhanoya.
The paddy plant is procured from nurseries for transplantation and most of the nurseries have exhausted their stocks.
The late sowing may also result in lower yield as the crop would get less time to mature.
The alternative crop for the farmers would be Jowar and animal fodder. An oilseed crop Toria can also be sowed that takes 90-100 days to mature.
In Punjab the villages in four districts Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ludhiana and parts of Mohali have been submerged. The Punjab Agriculture Department is in the process of making an assessment but a loss of crop in an area of about 4 lac hectares is expected.
The breaches in the river Ghaggar, Tangari, Markanda and SYL (Satluj-Yamina-Link) and Hansi-Bhutana canal spelled a curse on the region that included four districts of Haryana and four of Punjab.
Ambala being the epicentre was the worst hit.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda put the onus on Punjab for releasing the water in SYL canal.
Even the National Disaster Rescue Force and Army personnels failed to mend the breach in SYL canal in district Kurukshtra.
Gurcharan Singh Thind, Vice President of Rashtriya Kisan Sangathan said that the state government should arrange the paddy nursaries and compensate the farmers for the loss.
The lack of preparedness before monsoon by the authorities caused miseries to millions of people. The drains in most of the low-lying pockets were not creared that resulted in water logging.
