Farmers Movement Archive

Relief sought as rain hits rabi crop harvesting

After facing a prolonged dry spell during the months of January and February, intermittent rains during the past few days have hit farmers hard in lower Kangra districts comprising Nurpur, Jawali, Fatehpur and Indora sub divisions, disrupting the ongoing harvesting of wheat. The farmers, who have suffered losses to their farm yields due to the vagaries of weather, are a harried a lot as their harvested wheat crop lying in the field after cutting has become wet and unfit for thrashing to extract wheat grains. The rain has also flattened their crops standing in the fields. Rakesh Kumar and Subhash Singh of Kopra lamented that rains at this stage of the harvesting season is a cause of concern to the farmers who had still to harvest their crops. Karan Singh of Indora and Inderjeet of Fatehpur said rain that lashed the area at regular intervals when harvesting was in progress had not only hampered the harvesting but also deteriorated the quality of their farm yield. Vijay Kumar and Ravi Thakur of Jawali lamented that they had cut their wheat crop and kept in the open for thrashing but untimely rain had damaged their crop. In Kangra district wheat is being cultivated in around 94,000 hectares of land. PC Saini, deputy director, agriculture, Kangra said that if rainfall continued in the coming days it would be more harmful to the rabi crops being harvested these days. Suresh Singh Pathania, president of Kangra district Bhartiya Kisan Union, has appealed to Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to provide relief to the farmers who had been hit hard by untimely rain. The rain, however, is considered beneficial for vegetable and fruit crops in the subtropical region in lower Kangra areas. A farm expert said this rain would be beneficial for mango, litchi and other fruits. “The rains will increase the size of fruits and also improve their quality,” he asserted. — OC

The Tribune

2021-04-22

NURPUR