Mumbai: Heavy unseasonal rains across many states in India have inflicted a telling blow on farmers with their standing crops destroyed and their spirit broken. There can be nothing worse than unseasonal heavy rains for farmers at a time when they are looking forward to harvesting.
Thirty-year-old farmer Khem Singh could not bear the pain and shock after unseasonal rains destroyed his standing crops in Rajasthan. He died on Sunday in the field after suffering a heart attack. Khem Singh and his brother Mahendra were farmers in Mothi village of Bajnore area in Bhilwara district. The heavy downpour continued throughout Saturday night and both of them went to their field in the morning to take stock of the situation.
Other parts of Gujarat were experiencing monsoon-like weather for the past three days due to western disturbances, with light to moderate shower occurring in several pockets, according to Met Department. The sky continued to remain cloudy to partially cloudy. The hailstorm impacted life in Kheda, Sabarkantha, and Banaskantha districts also.
Marathwada farmers, already bracing to tackle severe drought, have been dealt a blow with the standing rabi crop damaged due to heavy rain and hailstorms over the past two days. Aurangabad district alone received 57.12mm rainfall in the 24 hours till Saturday morning.
The government had declared hundreds of villages scarcity hit on account of the poor rainfall during the 2014 monsoon season. Unable to cope with farm losses, nearly 100 farmers have committed suicide since January this year. Due to the prevailing drought conditions, only 61% of the land was brought under rabi crop cultivation.
Officials said that most of the horticulture crop had been harvested, but most of the standing crop of wheat, cotton, jowar would be lost to the unseasonal showers. The untimely rain over the past fortnight has played havoc on standing crops in the Braj region in Western Uttar Pradesh. What’s more, more is predicted for Monday. The Braj region has witnessed a third spell of rain in this month dissolving farmers’ hope of a bumper crop.
Rain and hail caused damage to crops in many districts across Madhya Pradesh. As government began assessment of damage amid prediction of more rain and hail, initial reports reveal that crops have been damaged in 450 villages of 14 districts.
Bureau Report
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