Chandigarh, September 3
The prospects of a bumper paddy crop appear good so far, given the normal rainfall in Punjab. There has, however, been some damage to cotton and maize, where water had accumulated in low-lying fields. Even as the agitating farmers who have been here since Monday prepare to return home tomorrow, the paddy procurement blues haunt them, given the strict specifications for purchase by the agencies concerned.

There have been some reports of pest attack on paddy in parts of Ludhiana district. Though all varieties are affected, farmers had not followed the PAU's instructions on sprays but had paid more heed to ''arhtiyas'' and sprayed pesticide mixtures, which have proved ineffective.

A PAU Associate Professor of Agro-meteorology, Dr Parmjit Singh Sehra, says, ''The average rainfall in Punjab this year has been 348 mm from June 1 to August 27. But viewed from the technical point of view the up-to-date rain fall is 391 mm''. The normal rainfall for Punjab is 580 mm, taking 30 years' average, 1966 to 1996. The PAU's agro-meteorology observatory has recorded a rainfall of 529 mm so far this monsoon.

Dr Sehra says that the monsoon withdrawal from Punjab begins around mid-September. Conventionally, that is the time when due to ''low-pressure area pockets'' there can be light-to-moderate rainfall in isolated places in the state. The forecast is that the present spell of rain may continue till September-end.

So far, there is no significant damage to paddy. This rain has had a positive effect. However, if there is rain at the time of harvesting, it could harm paddy as the moisture content would rise creating problems in procurement.

The total rainfall in Punjab year-wise was as follows: