Another spell of rainfall has added to the woes of farmers across the region, leaving them worried about further losses as their paddy crop lies drenched in grain markets.
This is the second time in the last five days that heavy rainfall has lashed the region. Farmers, who have been waiting for days in grain markets for the procurement of their produce, say the rainfall has come as another setback.
The paddy they brought to the grain markets in the hope of timely procurement now lies soaked in the open, raising fears of deterioration in grain quality and further delays in procurement.
The rainfall has also flattened standing crops in several areas. The situation has become particularly worrying as the crop had already borne the brunt of heavy rainfall on Sunday. The repeated showers have left farmers anxious, with many fearing that their losses could mount further if the wet weather continues.
Meanwhile, procured paddy packed in gunny bags has also been soaked in the grain markets. Farmers alleged that paddy already auctioned to procurement agencies or rice millers was lying under sheds, while their own produce remained exposed to rainfall.
“Sheds in grain markets are packed with paddy already procured by rice millers or procurement agencies, while farmers’ produce is lying in the open. The heavy rainfall on Thursday caused huge losses to farmers. Slow lifting is also a major reason for these losses. If the lifting process were faster and the sheds were cleared, the rainfall would not have had such a major impact on farmers,” said Sandeep, a farmer at Karnal grain market.
Farmers have demanded compensation from the government for the losses they have suffered. “With the produce exposed to rain in fields as well as in grain markets, we face uncertainty over the quality of our paddy. The back-to-back spells of rainfall have again flattened the crop, making it difficult to harvest. We demand that the government compensate the farming community by conducting a special girdawari,” said Nasib Singh, another farmer.
When contacted, an official of the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB), Karnal, said that sufficient tarpaulins were available in the grain markets and almost all the heaps of farmers were covered during rainfall. “No farmer has faced any difficulty,” he added.
Yamunanagar: Despite being covered with tarpaulins, huge quantities of paddy lying in the district’s grain markets got wet due to rain on Thursday, raising concerns among farmers and arhtiyas about possible deterioration in the quality of the crop. The situation has worsened amid slow procurement and lifting, leaving large stocks of paddy exposed to adverse weather conditions. According to the latest data available with the District Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Controller, Yamunanagar, shows that about 31,306 MT of paddy remained unpurchased, while 78,895 MT of the procured crop was awaiting lifting from the grain markets. Only about 42.12 per cent of the total paddy procured had been lifted so far, indicating the slow pace of the process.
