Punjab farmers worry over drop in wheat yield seek compensation

Chandigarh,  A farmers’ union in Punjab on Tuesday said there will be a drop in wheat yield in the current season because of early onset of the summer season followed by a sudden rise in temperatures.
Wheat growers also demanded adequate compensation for the loss.

“Farmers are reporting a loss of around five quintals per acre in wheat yield because of rising temperatures,” Bhartiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal) general secretary Harinder Singh Lakohwal said on Tuesday.
He said an average 20-22 quintals of wheat are produced out of one acre of farmland, and the state should compensate the farmers adequately. “We are demanding from the government to pay Rs 8,000 to Rs 12,000 per acre for the loss of crop yield.”
Officials in the Punjab agriculture department also expect a fall in the yield of wheat in the ongoing rabi marketing season.
“There could be a drop of one-two quintals per acre in the yield of wheat because of high temperatures,” said an official of the department.
The exact fall in wheat yield will be known at the end of the harvesting period, the official said, adding that Punjab had reported 19.70 quintals of average wheat yield last year.
With the expectations of a drop in the yield of wheat, arrival of the crop in mandis is also likely to be less this time, said the official.
Punjab is expecting 135 lakh metric tonnes of wheat arrivals in markets during the ongoing rabi marketing season.
Meanwhile, opposition parties have been demanding from the AAP-led government in the state to compensate the affected farmers.
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said in a    tweet that the government must compensate the affected farmers.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema suggested the state government to raise this issue with the Centre and ensure adequate compensation to the farmers.
“Keeping in view the sharp decline in the yield of wheat due to sudden onset of unusually high temperature, the farmers of the state are suffering heavy losses. The state CM @BhagwantMann must raise the issue with GOI for adequate compensation to the farmers at the earliest,” Cheema tweeted.
Patiala MP Preneet Kaur has written to Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, seeking his intervention in providing compensation to farmers for the “loss of yield”. PTI