A farmer inspects his damaged wheat crop following strong winds and rains, at a village, in Jalandhar, Saturday, March 30, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
Chandigarh: With rains lashing many parts of Punjab on Saturday, wheat growers expressed fear that unseasonal showers could damage their standing crops.
Rains with strong winds and hailstorms at some places lashed Punjab's several parts, including Bathinda, Fazilka, Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar and Pathankot.
Heavy rains with strong winds came at a time when the wheat crop was ready for harvesting. Wheat procurement season starts on April 1 in Punjab and Haryana.
Several farmers rued that their crops got flattened because of rains and high-velocity winds, which will hit the crop yield. A farmer in Bathinda said the yield of his wheat crop will be affected because of untimely rains.
Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal asked Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to order a 'girdwari' to assess crop damage due to rains and hailstorms.
"Unseasonal rain and hailstorms have flattened the wheat crop across vast swathes in the Malwa region of the state. This is a double blow to farmers who faced a hailstorm some time back. CM @BhagwantMann should order a girdawari to assess damage to the wheat crop as well as provide interim compensation to farmers immediately," SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said in a post on X.
His wife and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal said, "Today's hailstorm in the Malwa region, the second in a month, has flattened and destroyed wheat crops across vast swathes in Punjab. Farmers, who have not been compensated for the earlier crop damage, should be awarded interim compensation immediately till such time the girdwari is not ordered and completed."