TAXILA: As the unexpected rainy weather with thunderstorm has played havoc with wheat crop, farmers in Taxila and the adjourning areas are trying to harvest and thresh the crop as soon as possible to save it from further damage.

The heavy rains during April badly affected the standing wheat crop on more than 40,000 acres in the Taxila region. Taking advantage of the current dry and sunny days, the farmers have started harvesting and threshing the crop from dawn to dusk. Scores of local wheat growers and small farmers said the heavy rains had damaged their crops.

Several wheat cultivation areas in the villages of Taxila and Hassanabdal received torrential rains coupled with hails and thunderstorm, resulting in serious production losses. The farmers and wheat growers said the rainy spell during the month of April delayed the harvesting process. While the farmers were arranging for harvesting in the union councils of Jalla, Wah and Lub Thatoo, rains followed by hailstorm hit the crops.

Malik Aziz, a farmer in the Dhabian village of Taxila, said wheat harvesting and threshing was at its peak and farmers wanted to finish the job as quickly as possible.

Azhar Ali, another farmer from Kot Sandaki Union Council in Hassanabdal, said the growers had already faced a lot of losses due to the unexpected rains as most of the wheat plants were damaged by fungus making it not suitable for human consumption. The farmers do not want to take further risk and have started harvesting.

Dry spell after untimely rains gives farmers an opportunity to harvest and thresh the crop

Moreover, the farmers expressed concerns over the high rate for wheat harvesting and threshing. They said threshing machine owners were charging exorbitant rates which they were forced to pay as they were running short of time and wanted to save their crops from further damages.

Inamullah Khan, the agriculture officer Taxila circle, told this correspondent that the wheat crop harvesting would be completed in about 10 to 20 days if there were no further rains. He said the rains and hailstorm badly affected the wheat crop after harvesting.

He said unseasonal rains in April and the cold weather delayed the harvesting of the Kharif crops, especially in the Taxila and adjourning areas for about two weeks. He said during the past few days the farmers had harvested 17 to 18 per cent of the wheat crop. “Now when the weather has become hot and dry, the farmers should complete the harvesting as early as possible.”

When contacted, Deputy District Officer (agriculture) Tahir Mehmood said farmers should complete harvesting and threshing before the next spell of rains. Currently there is an ideal sunshine and heat, particularly for the wheat crop.

In reply to a question, he said the total cultivated area in the tehsil was 40,697 acres of which 33,003 acres were rain-fed and 4,876 acres irrigated. He warned that if there was more rains during the next a couple of weeks with thunderstorm, it would badly affect the wheat crop.

To another question, he said it was expected that there would be a bumper production of wheat in the region.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2015

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