Paddy crops in Punjab were unaffected from the untimely rains that hit yesterday the parts of northern India including the state.
"Showers and thunderstorm hit areas of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar yesterday. The weather was awkward, but there has been no damage to paddy crop in the state," Agriculture officer Amandeep Singh said here today.
Referring to the inclement weather yesterday, he said "not much harm was done to paddy crop."
Things would have been different had it rained for two to three days continuously, he added.
About the on-going procurement, he said that so far it is "smooth."
He said that the total paddy procurement is expected to be around 125 lakh Metric Tonnes in the state.
He said that till date 21.89 lakh Metric Tonnes of paddy had been purchased by the government and private agencies in the state.
Unseasonal rains had yesterday lashed several parts of Punjab, raising fears of damage to paddy, a major Kharif crop, during the ongoing procurement season.
Reports, however, said that rains and strong winds flattened paddy crop in different parts of the state, mainly in Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Amritsar, Ropar and Ludhiana.
"Paddy crop has been flattened in some areas due to heavy rains," officials said.
The untimely rain is likely to delay in harvesting of paddy crop, officials said.
Meanwhile, Agricultural Officer Lakhwinder Singh Hundal said an advisory has been issued to farmers not to harvest crop for two days in the wake of rains and to avoid glut of crop in grain markets.
However, farm experts said rains at this stage are not beneficial for the crop as it might lead to grain shattering and flattening of standing crop which could ultimately impact overall yield.
Punjab, which grows paddy in about 28 lakh hectare of land, has targeted procurement of 125 lakh tonne of the crop in the current season.
