Wheat, pulses and seasonal fruits maximum hit in hailstorm

Centre assessing impact; Rahul Gandhi demands visit by Central team

It could not have come at a worse time, after two consecutive droughts and near absence of any winter rains, farmers across North, Central and Western parts of the country were pinning their hopes on the 2016 rabi harvest to recoup some of the losses.

However, a sudden bout of rains accompanied by strong winds and hailstorm in some places since last Friday seems to have shattered their plans.

A maximum damage has happened to standing crops including wheat, gram, mustard in some places and some seasonal fruits like mango, grapes.

Day's before Holi, farmers in most places had watered their standing crop for one last time before harvesting it, particularly the early sown varieties.

 

The only saving grace so far, it seems that showers have not been very heavy and the sequence has been broken by bright sunshine, which helps in faster draining of water lodged in fields.

The hailstorm has also been limited to few pockets.

Nonetheless, the calamity has rung alarm bells given that last year's unseasonal rains and hailstorm damaged standing crop in over 19 million hectares of land leading to spate of suicides.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi raised the issue in Lok Sabha through an adjournment notice.

The Central government too got into the Act to prevent a recurrence of 2015. It held meetings with all top officials and is looking to dispatch teams to assess the damage. Prime Minister Narendra Modi too held discussion with a group of farmers on issues concerning their welfare.

Business Standard reporters from the across the country give an on-ground assessment of the situation.

Punjab

Ajmer Singh, a farmer from village Mehma-Serja in Punjab is regretting his decision to water the standing wheat crop few days back to quell the impact of rising temperature.

The sudden downpour since Friday has not only taken him by surprise, but could also lead to 20-25 per cent drop in yields unless the fields dry up quickly. Singh, is among the millions of farmers in Punjab, who had watered their plants one last time before preparing for harvest.

"The un-irrigated farms may sustain less loss, while the maximum damage will be in those fields which have been irrigated," Singh said. The brunt has been on wheat, which is grown in around 3.4 million hectares of land in Punjab.

Standing crop in Gurdaspur, Ferozpur, Bathinda, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala have suffered maximum loss in the state, officials said.

Haryana

Standing crop in Hisar, Sirsa, Jind, Bhiwani, Sonepat, Fatehbad, Karnal and Rohtak have been impacted due to unseasonal rains and hailstorm.

A senior official in the agriculture department said that preliminary surveys show that wheat yields might fall by as much as 25 per cent. He said harvest could be delayed. Though a dry spell in the next few days might recoup some loss, but it might not be sufficient enough. Wheat is grown in around 2.4 million hectares of land in Haryana.

Uttar Pradesh

Hailstorms and sporadic downpour in the eastern region of Uttar Pradesh over the last couple of days have wrecked havoc to the standing rabi crops, especially wheat.

In western and central parts the downpour has impacted gram, pea, mustard, wheat and also horticultural crops like mango, potato etc. The maximum damage has been reported from Allahabad, Mirzapur, Pratapgrah, Varanasi, Balrampur and Gonda districts.

"The hailstorms have destroyed the matured wheat crop in the affected areas, while the loss has also been significant in those areas as well where the crop has not matured yet," Dr Indra Pal Sachan a senior agriculture scientist said. He said yields may fall by around 20-25 per cent because of the damage.

"I had irrigated my field in February and was expecting a good yield this season. However, nature's fury has destroyed all my hopes," V.K Singh, a farmer from Balrampur district said.

Madhya Pradesh

As many as 22 districts have been impacted by hailstorm and unseasonal rains in the state.

As per initial reports standing rabi crop in 1,086 villages spread across 129 tehsils have been impacted due to the unseasonal rains, revenue Minister Rampal Singh said today. He said a survey has been ordered to assess the exact quantum of damage, while in the interim a compensation of Rs 5,000-15,000 per hectare has been announced. The Opposition Congress is demanding suspension of loan recovery in affected areas.

Maharashtra & Gujarat

Rains have damaged the mango and grape crop along with wheat in both the states. "Current weather conditions are not favorable for grape and mango crops as it will damage the fruits," Dinesh Dattatraya Kulkarni, organizing Secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS). The maximum damage has been in Nagpur, Wardha, Akola, Yavatmal, Amaravati districts of Maharashtra.

In Gujarat, a second spell of rains after the showers of last week has lead to falling off of unripened mangoes.

"For mango the current spell of rains is not good as fruits are in growing stage and heavy wind may dislodge it from the trees at premature stage." A R Pathak, vice chancellor of Junagadh Agriculture University (JAU) said.