Untimely rain and hailstorm have caused damage to the rabi (winter) crops in over one lakh hectare in Maharashtra, especially in Vidarbha and Marathwada regions. As per estimate received by the agriculture Ministry, the rabi crops –chana and wheat –have been hit. The MeT department has also warned farmers about bad weather and advised them to start harvesting early.
According to officials of the agriculture Ministry, they have received a report from Maharashtra. About 1.08 lakh hectare has been damaged due to unseasonal rains and hailstorm. “This is just a preliminary assessment of the damage, the full report is yet to be received from the State Government”, officials said
Besides Maharashtra, the official said, there were reports of some damage to rabi crops in Madhya Pradesh. The rabi crops will be ready for harvest from next month. In some states like Gujarat, wheat harvesting has begun.
Officials said that in madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha, the farmers have been asked to complete harvesting of matured rabi crops at the earliest. The State Government has also asked farmers to collect and cover harvested produce by plastic sheet, store threshed crops in warehouse, complete harvesting of matured fruits and vegetables at the earliest and cover orchard with hail net in Madhya Maharashtra and Marathwada.
As per reports, districts which were most hit in Maharashtra included Beed, Osmanabad, latur, Nanded, Parbhani, Hingoli, Dhule, Nandurbar, Aurangabad among others. Sehore, Vidisha, Hoshangabad, Guna, Rajgarh, Harda, Betul and Raisen districts were among the badly hit districts of Madhya Pradesh.