Unseasonal rain, hail destroy wheat crop in Haryana's Jhajjar; farmers seek government relief

Unseasonal rain accompanied by hail has flattened and severely damaged the wheat crop in Madana Kalan village of Jhajjar district affecting several farmers in the areaSpeaking to ANI a local farmer said that the unseasonal rain and hail had destroyed his wheat fields leaving him and other cultivators in the village in a state of distressThe crop has been entirely damaged We demand compensation from the government Conditions are worse in the entire village everything has been destroyed he saidAnother farmer highlighted that while a small portion of the crop around 1020 per cent might have survived the damage to the majority of his fields would create significant challenges for selling and marketing the remaining produceMy almost entire crop has been damaged apart from the 102037 that might be left There will be a lot of problems in the sale of this crop We demand from the government that a timely survey of this damage is carried out and appropriate compensation is given on time he added underlining the farmers call for a prompt and systematic assessment to facilitate compensation and recoveryFarmers across the village are reportedly assessing the extent of losses and authorities have been urged to provide relief measures for the affected cultivatorsEarlier on April 1 Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini laid special emphasis on crop diversification horticulture and the expansion of highvalue fruit crops to enhance farmers income He directed officers to identify suitable areas and develop clusters for key fruit crops including strawberry lemon guava and dragon fruitChairing a review meeting of the Agriculture and Horticulture Departments the Chief Minister said that clusterbased farming models should be developed according to soil and climatic conditions to ensure higher productivity and better returns in a shorter timeThe Chief Minister said that alongside traditional crops fruit cultivation should be promoted on a large scale according to a releaseAcknowledging the growing market demand and remunerative prices of these fruits he stressed linking farmers with production availability of planting material processing and marketing to ensure a significant increase in their income he addedHe further directed promotion of tissue culturebased production of crops such as arhar soybean groundnut pulses fruit crops and sugarcaneHe said that the agricultural and horticultural potential of each district should be scientifically assessed The governments objective he added is to connect farmers with multicropping multiproduct and highvalue farming systems to create sustainable income opportunitiesThe Chief Minister directed that new hybrid and highyielding varieties of cotton narma mustard arhar soybean groundnut and pulses be developed He also called for promoting research on seeds and planting materials that can withstand hailstorms climate change and adverse weather conditionsHe said that land available with agricultural universities colleges and at the panchayat level should be identified for research and trials so that new varieties and technologies can be tested under local conditions and quickly disseminated among farmers He also directed that students and research institutions be actively involved to accelerate innovationThe Chief Minister further directed the officers concerned to study successful hybrid varieties fruit plants and modern technologies developed in universities of other states and adapt them to Haryanas conditions to ensure the availability of quality seeds and planting material to farmersHe also directed officers to identify clusters to promote natural farming across the state Farmers in these clusters should be provided with jeevamrit organic solutions drums and other necessary resources along with practical training He said that the natural farming model being implemented by Acharya Devvrat at Gurukul Kurukshetra should be adopted as a base for wider implementation enabling more farmers to take up lowcost and sustainable farmingHe stated that if productivity declines during the initial phase of adopting natural farming in any Cluster the government should compensate farmers for their losses Financial assistance and technical guidance should be extended to strengthen farmers confidence so that natural farming can be scaled up as a mass movementThe Chief Minister directed that regular testing of crops fruits vegetables and other agricultural produce for pesticides and residues be ensured in laboratories Chemicals that are harmful to health and increase the risk of serious diseases such as cancer should be immediately prohibited Samples should be sent regularly for testing and strict action must be taken against violatorsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without 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