Haryana: Rain, strong winds flatten wheat crop, may delay harvesting
Though farmers in Haryana said the rain is beneficial for the lateral varieties of wheat and vegetables, the strong winds and heavy rains at this stage may delay the harvesting as the flattened crop will take a week extra to get ready for harvesting.
The unseasonal rain accompanied by strong winds reported in most parts of Haryana in the past two days has added to the woes of farmers by flattening the wheat crop.
However, experts are of the view that there was no major impact on the crop yet but more rain at this stage could be harmful and it will delay the harvesting.
“Most of the early sown varieties of the crop are at the half-ripened stage. Flattening of the crop at this stage will cause shrinking of immature wheat grain leading to the fall in the yield,” said a farmer, Sandeep Tyagi of Karnal’s Gharaunda.
Though farmers said the rain is beneficial for the lateral varieties of wheat and vegetables, the strong winds and heavy rains at this stage may delay the harvesting as the flattened crop will take a week extra to get ready for harvesting.
Haryana department of agriculture and farmers’ welfare director Narhari Banger said, “At this stage, we cannot make any assessment of crop loss but we have sought reports from all districts. There are reports of mild hailstorms in parts of Kaithal and Rewari districts but we are waiting for the final reports.”
He said there was no major loss in the mature flattened crop but the rain will delay the harvesting. Agriculture experts have advised farmers to withhold irrigation of the crop to avoid lodging.
Karam Chand, deputy director, agriculture, Kaithal, said as of now there are no reports of any major loss to the wheat crop but the lodging may delay the harvesting and farmers have been advised to withhold irrigation.
The Chandigarh centre of the India meteorological department has also advised farmers to temporally withhold irrigation and spraying in the crop.
For mustard, farmers are advised to withhold the harvesting of the crop for some time and store the harvested produce at a safe place or cover it with a polythene sheet to avoid losses.
Earlier, following favourable weather conditions, scientists of the ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR), Karnal, had predicted that the country’s wheat production will touch a record 112 million tonnes.