Abohar, July 28, Due to the recent downpour, cotton and other crops spread over 10,000 acres in Abohar, Khuyiansarwer and Fazilka development blocks have been damaged.

 

As per a preliminary survey conducted by teams of the Agriculture Department, the loss to crops, mainly cotton and maize, ranges from 15 to 17 per cent in about 10,000 acres across 60 villages. The final report is yet to be compiled. The exact loss will be calculated when the Revenue Department carries out a special ‘girdawari’ to ensure compensation by the government.

 

Some farmers, who failed in getting the stagnant water out, ploughed the fields today. In Dharangwala village here, Pala Ram was the first to drive a tractor on cotton crop sown over five acres. Inderjit Singh ploughed 10 acres while Ram Chander did it on five acres of cotton plants. Another farmer, Madan Lal Kirodiwal, said four acres of crop had been destroyed due to rain.

 

While Punjab is expecting a 25 per cent increase from the last year’s 4-lakh hectare area under cotton crop, the ground reality seems to be different.

 

The farmers said due to poor productivity, they had to bear financial losses running into lakhs of rupees. They said if the government gave them due compensation on time, they could sow their crop again.