Weather goes wild, potatoes in a soup

‘‘More than 15 per cent of the potato crop has been damaged. If it rains again, losses will go up further,’’ said Iqbal Singh Chattha, press secretary of the Jalandhar Potato Growers’ Association. There are nearly 3,000 farmers cultivating potatoes in this region, with nearly 65 per cent of farmland under the crop.

‘‘I sowed potatoes after taking a loan, and was hoping to pay it back after a very good crop. But the rain has affected both the quality and the quantity of the crop. The nascent potatoes have absorbed water,’’ said Jagjit Singh of Jhandhusingha village.

Potato farmers are not the only ones wearing a frown. The uncertain weather conditions are worrying wheat farmers as well. After welcoming the early February rains, experts apprehend that ‘‘wide weather fluctuations’’ will damage crops ‘‘which are at a sensitive stage of growth.’’

‘‘On Wednesday, the weather was sunny in Punjab. If the sunlight holds for the next three-four days, we can recoup the damage to some extent,’’ said Balwinder Singh Sidhu, state director of agriculture. ‘‘Already, rain, and especially hailstorm, has damaged crops in 90,000 hectares in the state.’’

For potato farmers, said association chief Raghubir Singh, the rain-inclicted damage comes in the wake of losses suffered in December, when the Indian Railways did not lift their bumper crop in time and caused losses of Rs 150 crore.

While reluctant to put figures to apprehended losses in wheat, Rajinder Singh Pandher, chief agriculture officer, Ludhiana, said, ‘‘Across the state, 50 per cent of the crop—the part sown on schedule—is sprouting ears. Elsewhere, the crop is approaching that stage. It’s a very sensitive period.’’

Grain formation kicks in immediately after the ears form, and can be negatively impacted by very warm to high temperatures. This time last year, grain formation had been hit by high temperatures, causing yields to fall to 10 quintals/acre, from the average 46 quintals/acre.

So far as the condition of oilseeds and vegetable crops are concerned, Sidhu said the last few days of sun has limited the damage. However, Jaswinder Singh Sangha, general secretary of the Jalandhar Potato Growers’ Association said that the government should order girdwari of the potato belt and compensate affected farmers.

FIGURE THIS OUT

‘‘We have to keep on highlighting damage figures, so that the farmers get their due in compensation,’’ said a senior DoA official on condition of anonymity. ‘‘That’s because compensation levels are decided at the national level, on the basis of all-India productivity figures—which is half of that of Punjab. So, going by official figures, Punjab farmers end up getting just 10 per cent of his actual losses.

‘‘Also, individual compensations are dependent on patwari assessments, which could be biased. So, if we declare the affected area to be 90,000 ha, at least there’s some pressure on the patwaris not to vary too wildly.’’