Procurement hit as rain drenches paddy in Haryana mandis
Millions of tonnes of paddy lying in the mandis got soaked due to early morning showers adding to the woes of farmers, labourers, arhtiyas and traders in Haryana
Light to moderate rain was reported in the northern paddy sowing belts of Haryana on Monday, putting the harvesting, procurement and lifting operations in the region on halt.
Millions of tonnes of paddy lying in the mandis got soaked due to early morning showers adding to the woes of farmers, labourers, arhtiyas and traders.
On early Monday morning, the rain started to pour in various parts of the northern districts, including Karnal, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Yamunanagar and Ambala. Due to the rain, farmers have to suspend harvesting operations. Simultaneously, procurement and lifting operations were affected in the mandis.
“There was no harvesting on Monday and we have to wait for the next couple of days to resume operations until the crop gets ready for harvesting,” said Sandeep Kumar of Karnal, who owns three combine harvesters.
In more worries to the traders, millions of tons of procured and non-procured paddy lying in the mandis got soaked due to early morning showers. Farmers and labourers were seen struggling to protect the produce from rain and water flowing in the mandis.
“Thousands of bags of procured paddy were drenched in the rain as the procurement agencies did not lift the procured paddy after several days,” said a commission agent of the Indri grain market.
Rain helps improve air quality to ‘moderate’
On the other hand, the rainfall helped to improve the deteriorating air quality bringing a sigh of relief to the residents of cities; especially those living in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The air-quality bulletin of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) revealed that the state registered its best air quality since the harvesting operations began in the state. The air quality of most cities in Haryana was flashed in moderate and satisfactory categories.
In the industrial cities of Bahadurgarh and Dharuhera, the air quality of the remaining cities was either satisfactory or moderate with the Air Quality Index (AQI) measured below 200.
Rain spells damage paddy in Ambala, Yamunanagar
The high-velocity winds followed by irregular rainfall for a couple of hours on Monday damaged paddy crops in the fields and mandis in parts of Ambala and neighbouring Yamunanagar district.
Farmers said the rain inundated the fields in several villages, while hailstorm was also reported in a couple of pockets of the Ambala-1 block.
Tejveer Singh, a farm activist, said, “Due to tardy lifting at mandis, the rain damaged the grain. A hailstorm was reported in Sullar and its adjoining villages. These villages suffered heavy losses during the July floods as well.”
