Unseasonal rain and hailstorm have resulted in extensive crop damage in Bastar district. The damage has put especially, the marginal farmers in great crisis. According to sources, April was usually a time of celebration for farmers as the winter crops were ready to be harvested, and there is money to clear past debts and plan future planting. But this year, all their hopes have been shattered because of unseasonal rain and hailstorm.
With dreams of a good harvest, most small and medium-scale farmers borrow money from local lenders, often at exorbitant interest rates, to buy seed and fertiliser and hire tractors to plow the fields.
Some farmers of Gadpichvadi said that their crops were almost ready to harvest when the rain hit their farmland destroying the crops. The farmers of Mankeshwari informed that they were just searching for labourers to harvest their wheat crops.
The farmers have also added that the unseasonable rain has proved harmful for the wheat crops as the wheat lost its colour after which they were hardly sold in market.