Rain in Uttar Pradesh hits pulses, oilseed crop

The three-day-long rains in many districts of Uttar Pradesh has created havoc. Rains with hailstorm has damaged the wheat crop, which was lying in the open field after harvest. Besides oilseed and pulses crop are also badly hit.

Initial figures from all the 70 districts of the state show that nearly 60 per cent of the Rabi crop has been damaged due to rain and hailstorm. In many eastern Uttar Pradesh districts where potato crop comes late, the rain has dampened the spirit of farmers.

As per the figures reaching the state headquarter, maximum damage has been in Meerut, Faizabad and Lucknow division where it has been to the tune of 65 per cent. As per the directives of the state government, a district-wise survey of the crop damage is on. The state government may announce relief for the farmers this week in the wake of crop damage due to untimely rain.

However, the damage of wheat crop may not concern the government much but damage to the pulses and oilseed is a matter of major concern for the state government.

The farmers in UP have always grown paddy and wheat for the last many years and grew only sugarcane in the name of cash crop. To promote the growth of pulse, the state government set a target of 8,895 thousand hectares this year of which the total crop was 2,297 thousand hectares in this crop season.

"Due to such rough weather and bad crop farmers cannot again be encouraged for pulses and oilseed crop", said agriculture scientist SK Singh. According to him the wheat crop, which is to be harvested after 15-20 days can be saved easily but it is not so in the case of pulses.

This year the state government had set a target of production of 11.77 lakh metric tonnes against which only 7.44 lakh metric tonnes is expected this year.