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By Manjeet Sehgal: After the natural calamities like rain, high velocity winds and hailstorms, now the prediction of a week-long wet spell by the weather department has left the wheat and vegetable growers of north India worried.
Farmers in Punjab have sown wheat over an area of 34.9 lakh hectares during the rabi season, of which crops in over 14 lakh hectares have been damaged.
India Today TV spoke to many farmers in the Mohali and the Dera Bassi area, who claimed that they were only able to harvest half of the yield they had in the past season.
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Harpreet Singh had sown wheat on 15 acres. He got only 10 quintals per acre compared to 20 quintals he harvested last year.
Now, the orange alert issued by the weather department has left the farmers worried. Farmers have been advised to cover their harvest crop. Many farmers who sowed late-maturing varieties have deferred harvesting as rains are expected to further damage the grains.
“Heat, rain and wind storms flattened the crop and impacted the size of the grains.The grains shriveled and have changed colour. We were compelled to spend double the amount on labour and harvesting. Against a normal Rs 1,000 per acre, we paid Rs 25,00 this season,” Harpreet Singh said.
60-year-old Surmukh Singh said he was assured that the compensation for the damaged crop would be paid within 24 hours. But it has not been over a month now. He had sown wheat on 10 acres and heads a family of five.
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Karanjot Singh, another Mohali farmer, said that the bad weather has damaged more than half of his crop. Revenue Department officials have done a survey but the compensation cheques are yet to be released.
Not only the wheat crop, but vegetable, musk melon and watermelon farmers have also been hit hard by the sudden rains and rising temperatures. Amarjeet Singh of Dere Jagadhari village rued that the state government is yet to announce any compensation for them.
This is the second consecutive rabi season when the wheat produce has been hit. An estimated 15 per cent of the yield was damaged last year, which caused a loss of Rs 6,000 crore to the wheat farmers.
Punjab’s agricultural department officials said that the overall yield in the state would fall between 15 to 20 percent.The wheat production during this season was expected to be around 175 lakh tonnes, but it will now be around 150 lakh tonnes.The quality of the grains has also been impacted.
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Meanwhile, the Union government has allowed the purchase of wheat having lustre loss up to 80% and shrivelled grain up to 18%. However, it has imposed value cuts that will be deducted from the minimum support price (MSP).
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, besides the farmers’ unions, has slammed the Centre’s decision to cut the value.
“They require our grains and behave indifferently. But the farmers need not worry as we will bear the losses. We have also decided to compensate the farm labourers. The Centre should be aware that we can sell our produce to other states,” Bhagwant Mann said.
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