Rabi crops face fury of rain, hailstorm in Haryana; farmers seek special girdawari
Tribune Reporters
Hisar, March 2
Massive hailstorm coupled with rain today caused extensive damage to standing rabi crops, especially mustard crops, that are at ripening stages in the state. The wheat crop too suffered damage as gusty winds have flattened the crops.
DC visits villages to review crop loss
sonepat: Deputy Commissioner Manoj Kumar today visited rain and hailstorm-affected fields to review the loss of crops. He appealed to the farmers to get themselves registered on the ‘Meri Fasal Mera Byora (MFMB)’ portal at the earliest. He said the farmers who failed to register on the MFMB portal would not be able to register on the kshatipurti portal. He said the major crop loss had been reported in Kharkhoda, Sonepat and Rai block due to heavy rain followed by hailstorm. — TNS
I have never seen such an intense hailstorm in the past 50 years. It has badly damaged the mustard crop in the area. — Balwan Dahiya, Farmer in rai block
The farmers from several villages in Hisar, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Jind, Fatehabad districts reported damage to the mustard crops due to the hailstorm. Agriculture experts said the mustard flowers could not withstand impact of the hailstorm.
The India Meteorological Department said Rohtak received 47 mm rainfall, Sonepat 8.5 mm, Hisar 26 mm and Ambala 24 mm. Charkhi Dadri, Jind, Karnal Kurukshetra, Panipat, Fatehabad and Bhiwani districts also received rain coupled with the hailstorm.
ML Khichar, head of Agriculture Meteorology Department at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University (HAU) Hisar, said low clouds due to Western Disturbances were the main cause behind the hailstorm in the plains.
He said rain would also likely to occur in northern areas of the state tomorrow. The climatic conditions would stabilise after tomorrow, he added.
sonepat: Heavy rain accompanied with hailstorm today caused a huge loss to farmers in Kharkhoda and
Rai blocks.
“I have never seen such a huge hailstorm in the past 50 years. The hailstorm has damaged the mustard crop badly in the area. It made a loss of approximately 80% to harvested crop while 50-60% to standing crop. And, it also badly damaged wheat crops,” said Balwan Dahiya, a farmer from Badkhalsa village of Rai block.
Rajender Singh, a farmer from Nirthan village of Kharkhoda block, said the wheat crop was laid down due to heavy rain followed by the hailstorm.
“Major loss has been reported from Nirthan, Bidhlan, Khanda, Chaoklka, Sehri, Kharkhoda, Gorad and adjoining villages of Kharkhoda block. Approximately 60-70% wheat crop damaged due to high speed winds. The other big loss is in mustard crop,” he added.
Rajender Kuhar, subject matter specialist, said heavy rain and hailstorm have affected crops in 45 villages of Kharkhoda and 28 villages of Rai.
karnal: Rain along with hailstorm also lashed Karnal district, causing tension among farmers. Farmers demanded that the government should conduct a special girdawari to compensate them. “Rain, hailstorm and strong wind flattened the crops. The government should compensate the farmers by conducting a special girdawari,” said Vikrant Choudhary, a farmer from Karnal district.
rohtak: A massive hailstorm accompanied by rain lashed Rohtak district, flattening standing wheat and other crops in many villages. Crops were flattened in Mungan, Sunaria, Baniyani, Samchana and Pakasma villages. The All India Kisan Sabha demanded a special girdawari to assess losses caused to the farmers.
