Unseasonal Rains Damage Haryana Wheat Crops, Affect Yield and Harvest

The flattened crops in the fields on either side of the road from Gurugram to Jhajjar via Badli are a clear indicator of the destruction caused by the rains. Shiv Kumar, a farmer at Devarkhera village of Jhajjar, showed how the rain has affected his crop by plucking some spikes of wheat crop from his fields along the Gurugram-Badli road.

The spikes had turned black and died due to the heavy rain, which had flattened the crops for too long. Kumar mentioned that harvesting the crop would be a costlier and time-consuming process because manual labor is the only way to harvest a crop flattened like this.

He also stated that the crop has become so damp that he would be able to harvest it only after seven days, and that too if there is let up in the rain.

The state government has provided farmers with the option to register their crop loss on the e-Fasal Kshatipurti portal to avail of compensation online. However, the portal says that only those farmers whose villages have verified damages can claim compensation.

Despite widespread lodging, or flattening of crops, in the region, the Indian Council of Agricultural ResearchnIndian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (ICAR-IIWBR) has stated that India is on track to achieve its target of 112 million tonnes of wheat this year from its 3.4 million hectares of area under wheat.

Gyanendra Pratap Singh, director of ICAR-IIWBR, stated that lodging of crops alone does not cause much damage to the yield. But if the flattened crop remains underwater for some time, it leads to discoloration of the grain as well as loss of yield.

Farmers have been advised to wait for at least seven days before harvesting their crops. Those who harvest their crops by combine harvesters must wait for at least seven days, and those who get it done manually can do it because the crop can be dried after harvesting too. 

However, the temperature is not conducive to harvest, as it is currently at 29 degrees Celsius, while a day temperature of 35 degrees Celsius or more is ideal for harvesting. Additionally, the wheat currently has a moisture content of 22 per cent, which is too high for procurement agencies to purchase.