With the farmers being at the receiving end of the quirky weather wrecking their corps every season, the unseasonal rain has resulted in the State Government facing the heat of things from the frustrated peasants of the hill State. The fact of the matter is that even the survey of the damaged crops has not yet been started. More importantly, many of the wheat procurement centres being set up in this region have worn a deserted look as the farmers are not turning up to dispose of their produce.
As usual, the Rabi crops are ready this season too, but the farmers here have nothing to look up to amid ruins of the standing crops due to unseasonal rain. Worse, ‘failure’ of State Government to extend a helping hand to the beleaguered farmers has only added to their woes. The early varieties of Rabi crops like wheat have ripened. The farmers in the Terai belt of Uttarakhand have already starting reaping the harvests. But poor yield of main crops like wheat has come as a serious cause of concern for the farmers. The small farmers are naturally the worst hit.
With the per acre yield of crop like wheat drastically coming down to five to six quintal this season, the question is how we would manage with the poor output of the Rabi crops this season, lamented Rajesh Sanwal, a farmer of lamachauar, Haldwani. “Following huge crop damage, it has become difficult for us even to manage the farming cost,” he further said. With grievances mounting in both the plains and the hill areas, the State Government has not yet embarked even on the basic things like survey of the damaged crops across the State.
However, keeping in view the damage to Rabi crops the Pithoragarh district administration has now asked the officials concerned to submit detailed report on the quantum of damage to standing crops across the district in a week. Reviewing the state of the agriculture sector in the aftermath of the unseasonal rain, Shushil Kumar, district magistrate, Pithoragarh, asked the officials concerned of the revenue, agriculture and horticulture departments to study the damage caused to crops by the unseasonal rain in the district. The report should come fast so that due relief is provided to the affected farmers, he added.