SWABI: Just about three weeks before the expected start of wheat harvest season, heavy rain accompanied by windstorm has badly damaged the crop in the district, said farmers here.

A visit to the fields and interaction with the growers revealed on Saturday that they were perturbed by the damage of the crop caused by heavy rains at a crucial stage.

They said that the unexpected rains across the district in the last few days would affect the wheat yield because once the crop pushed to the ground it could not produce the expected yield. In fact, the yield is cut to the half, they said.

Pointing to his rain-hit crop, Rajwali Khan of Maneri village said that the damage of their crop meant a great setback to financial position of their families.

The growers said that they were expecting a good yield this year because the crop was quite superior and they took great care in watering and using fertilizers in time.

They said that heavy rain in the final stages of the crop could downgrade its quality and affect the fodder needs in the district.

They said that lower quality of the grain would certainly attract lower price, causing losses to them.

The farmers said that harvesting the rain-hit crop was always difficult and the farmers would have to put in extra labour in this regard.

They feared that the crop condition would worsen if more rains occurred in the coming days.

They said that the damaged crop would most likely yield 50 per cent less grains than expected.

They said that the government claimed that it was an agriculture country, but when crops were destroyed due to natural calamity the rulers failed to come forward for their help.

Khalid Khan, president of Kisan Board, said that it was the responsibility of the government to come forward and help the affected farmers.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2018