Representative image.

NEW DELHI: Unseasonal rains and hailstorms on Friday damaged standing Rabi crops (mainly mustard and wheat) in many districts of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh .

Reports from the ground suggested that many farmers in these states suffered more than 50% damage to their standing crops as heavy rains and hailstorm covered vast stretch from Jodhpur to Jammu and from Sikar to Varanasi.

“The rains specifically hailstorm caused extensive damage of wheat, mustard, gram, vegetable. The initial estimate of damage is 40% in wheat, 55% in mustard and 50% in vegetable. The worst affected districts are Rohtak, Sikar, Aligarh, Agra, Shamli and Lucknow,” said Lucknow-based farm expert Sudhir Panwar .

He said, “Like any other biological entity, agriculture crops are sensitively synchronised with weather conditions. Adverse conditions at maturity stage results into irreversible damage. This Rabi season is becoming harsher and uneconomic for farmers after four years.”

Reports suggested heavy loss of mustard in Rewari district . Rains and hailstorm even flattened wheat crop, causing yield losses on account of winds across Haryana and Punjab.

“A special ‘girdawri’ (crop loss inspection) by the state government needs to be done at the earliest. Secondly, it needs to be ensured that the insurance companies cover each and every complaint of crop loss (localised) and that the inspections for hailstorm are also done at the earliest,” said another farm expert Ramandeep Singh Mann .

It is learnt that the agriculture ministry would soon send a team of officials to affected areas to assess the extent of damage and crop loss.

Besides Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, other states too may face similar situation as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted “moderate scattered to fairly widespread rainfall” over Odisha, West Bengal, Sikkim, Bihar, Jharkhand , Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh and northeastern states till Saturday.

