Unseasonal rains, strong winds and hailstorm continued in many areas of North and Central India today, causing significant damage to standing crops of wheat, mustard, gram, sugarcane and seasonal vegetables and horticulture crops. However, the extent of the damage will be known only after the receding of water in the fields and after the survey.
This time the weather has changed tremendously. A few weeks ago there was a heatwave across the country and now it is raining unseasonally. Due to this there is a danger of reducing the yield of crops.
The central government also admitted that unseasonal rains and hailstorm have caused some damage to the standing crop of wheat in major producing states, but mustard and gram are not much worried as most of them have been harvested. Talking about horticulture crops, hailstorm in some areas may cause minor damage to crops like banana and potato.
Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department has said that the rains will stop from Tuesday. According to the estimates of the Indian Meteorological Department, from Tuesday, the effect of rain, thunderstorm and hailstorm in North-West and East India will reduce significantly. But from March 24, there may be unseasonal rain and hailstorm in Punjab, Haryana, West Uttar Pradesh, North Rajasthan and Delhi.
Mahesh Palawat, vice-president, weather and climate change, at Skymet, a private weather forecasting agency, told BLiTZ, “This fresh spell of rain will be due to a western disturbance which is expected to become active from the night of March 23. ‘
Unseasonal rains and hailstorm are expected to hit the standing wheat crop the most. There will be a special effect in those areas where the crop is ripe and ready for harvesting.
Rahul Chauhan, Commodity Analyst at iGrain India, said, “Early rains have affected the wheat crop in Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, which will affect the quality of the seed and may increase the prices of good quality wheat.”
Bhavnan Meena, founder member of Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh, a farmers’ organization from Madhya Pradesh, said, “Farmers in Madhya Pradesh cultivate wheat on a large scale and the recent rains will affect the quality of wheat, resulting in lower prices for the produce in the market.” ‘
For the last few days, the state governments have also swung into action and are assuring compensation to the affected farmers. He has also promised a survey to assess the damage.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the officials to conduct a survey to assess the damage and to give compensation to the farmers promptly. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel held a high-level meeting last Sunday to review the situation, while Madhya Pradesh and Telangana governments are also showing proactivity to take stock of the damage in wheat-growing areas.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla visited Bundi area in Rajasthan hit by unseasonal rains, while the state government assured compensation to farmers. Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Chowdhary said that the State Governments are using the funds of the State Disaster Relief Fund.
“There has been some damage to the crop. But the assessment report of the damage caused has not yet been received from the state governments. He said that if the state governments assess the damage and report, the central government will give compensation under the National Disaster Relief Fund.
Agriculture Commissioner PK Singh said that even if there is a loss of a few percent in two lakh hectares of wheat, it will not have much impact as wheat has been sown in 3.4 crore hectares in this crop year.
