BATHINDA, Sept 17: The unprecedented downpour accompanied by strong winds today caused heavy losses to the standing crops in this region.The four-hour spell of rain left the fields flooded with water and damaged the crop of paddy, which is ready for harvesting, the downpour also caused a substantial loss to the cotton crop.A spokesman of the agriculture department said that the rain accompanied by thunder storm had adversely affected the crops and informed that 10 per cent of the paddy crop had been damaged.Experts were expecting a bumper crop of paddy because of stable weather conditions during the past months.Farmers in the cotton belt, comprising Bathinda, Mansa, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Muktsar, Moga and Sangrur, had increased the area under paddy cultivation and the cotton fields had been reduced by 20 per cent. But, due to below average monsoon in the belt, the farmers had to resort to temporary irrigation measures because of which the cost of inputs had shoot up.Chief Agriculture officer Muktsar Sukhdev Singh Sidhu said it would be difficult for growers to harvest logged crop as the harvester combines would not be able to reap it.The agriculture department has yet to assess the loss to the cotton crop but a senior officer said that not only the yield but the quality of the harvest would also suffer. Experts said the persistent cloudy weather and extra moisture in the air had increased the chances of growth of Amercian Bollworm.
