Rain in Punjab, Haryana may damage paddy crop

Widespread rain across Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh on Saturday brought miseries to farmers as untimely showers have affected the standing paddy crop in the agrarian states. The maximum temperature at most places has been below normal due to the downpour, weather officials said here.

While Ludhiana received 51mm of rainfall, Patiala gauged 95mm followed by Ambala 18 mm, Hisar 11 mm, Narnaul 7mm, Bhiwani 5mm, Karnal 2mm and Amritsar 0.6mm, the meteorological office said here.

The maximum temperature in Amritsar settled at 31° Celsius, three notches below normal, while in Hisar it settled at 29.5° Celsius, seven notches below normal. Among other places, Karnal had a high of 25.2° Celsius, eight notches below normal, followed by 24.8° Celsius at Bhiwani, 23.8° Celsius at Ambala, which was 10 notches below normal.

Farmers in both Punjab and Haryana said the rain during this period was not good as the harvesting of the paddy crop was on.

“The harvesting is on and the rain will increase the moisture content in the crop that will get damaged if the rain persists,” farmer Ajaib Singh of Fatehgarh Sahib said. Reports said the paddy crop, which is almost ready for harvest, was damaged in some areas.Procurement of paddy in Punjab and Haryana is scheduled to begin from October 1.Officials from agriculture and food and supplies departments are expecting a bumper paddy crop in both the states this year.

An official spokesperson said elaborate arrangements have been made to procure the expected 200 lakh tonnes of paddy in Punjab. Traffic on highways in Punjab and Haryana was slow due to the rain. The Punjab government on Friday issued an alert for heavy rains across the state till September 24.

As per information received from the ministry of earth sciences, the state is likely to experience widespread rain from late Saturday to Monday, a government spokesman said.

First Published: Sep 23, 2018 12:04 IST