BHAGWAN LAL Nitharwal is a big farmer in Gudaliya village of Chaimu tehsil in Jaipur, Rajasthan. This year he harvested 300 quintals (1 quintal equals 100 kg) of wheat and barley each from his 16-hectare (ha) farm. But before he could move the grains from the farm, a sudden hailstorm on April 25 night soaked all his produce. By the next day, the grains had turned dark. Watermelons he grew on 1.6 ha also got ruined.
That night, another farmer in Chaimu Mool Chand lost most of his green chilly, kakdi, cucumber, tomato and bottle gourd he had grown on 1.6 ha. “I had spent ₹2 lakh on the crop and could have brought home ₹5 lakh,” he says.
“I have not seen a hailstorm like this in my life,” says Ashok Yadav, 30, of Mauli Khas village in Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. In the state’s Banda district, rabi crop is grown on 324,000 ha, says A K Singh, deputy director, agriculture department. Of this, black gram is grown on 100,010 ha; the rest is wheat. When sudden rains came, some of the wheat had been harvested and labourers were still threshing it. Though losses are not huge, it will affect the grain quality.
March and April were bad for farmers of 13 states and Union territories in northern, central and east-central India. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) recorded 77 per cent more than normal rainfall in the country between March 1 and March 19. Bihar received nine times the usual rainfall, while Jharkhand got eight times more. Uttar Pradesh and Delhi recorded 698 per cent and 621 per cent excess rains respectively. Chhattisgarh got excessive rains in 25 of its 27 districts.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 16, 2020-Ausgabe von Down To Earth.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 16, 2020-Ausgabe von Down To Earth.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
A SPRIG TO CARE FOR
Punarnava, a perennial herb, is easy to grow and has huge health benefits
DIGGING A DISASTER
Soapstone mining near Dabti Vijaypur village has caused many residents to migrate.
REVIEW THE TREATMENT
Several faecal sludge treatment plants in Uttar Pradesh suffer from design flaws that make the treatment process both expensive and inefficient
MAKE STEEL SUSTAINABLE
As India works to double its GDP by 2030, its steel industry must balance growth with sustainability. By embracing policies like the Steel Scrap Recycling Policy 2019 and adopting green technologies, India is paving the way for a more sustainable future in steel production
Can ANRF pull off the impossible for India?
Anusandhan National Research Foundation is expected to reorient India's innovation goals but funding issues, old mindsets remain a drag
TROUBLED WOODS
Forests are a great bulwark against climate change. But this is fast changing. AKSHIT SANGOMLA travels through some of the pristine patches of the Western Ghats to explore how natural disturbances triggered by global warming now threaten the forest health
BLINDING GLOW
The science is clear: increased illumination has damaging consequences for the health of humans, animals and plants. It’s time governments introduced policies to protect the natural darkness and improved the quality of outdoor lighting.
GROUND REALITY
What happens when the soil loses the ability to grow healthy, high-yield crops on its own?
GM POLICY MUST BE FARMER CENTRIC
On July 23, the Supreme Court of India directed the Union government to develop a national policy on genetically modified (GM) crops for research, cultivation, trade and commerce through public consultation.
Vinchurni's Gandhi
A 96-year-old farmer transforms barren land into a thriving forest in drought-prone region of Satara
