SWABI: Farmers have started wheat crop harvest across the district though they have been expecting low yield due to the damage caused to standing crops this year.

The frequent spells of rain had delayed the harvest, but these days almost all farmers have started cutting their wheat crop. They said that the grains were not healthy and in some areas were blackened due to the rain at a ripe time of the crop.

Some of the farmers have hired automatic harvest machines, but majority said these are too costly.

Officials in the district agriculture department told this correspondent that the farmers cultivated wheat over 50 per cent of the farming land in the district.

Shahbaz Khan of Saleem village, a farmer, said that wheat harvest and threshing were the two toughest tasks for the growers and after completing them they took a sigh of relief.

Kasthkar Coordination Council central general secretary Liaquat Yousafzai, district president of Kisan Board Kahild Khan and district president of Anjuman-i-Kashthkaran, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sher Alam said that wheat was one of the cash crops cultivated by farmers of the district.

Mr Yousafzai said that wheat harvest and threshing were expected to be completed in two weeks. Mr Khalid said that wheat crop fulfilled the grain requirements of the farmers for entire year.

The farmers said that they needed sunshine to complete the harvest process.

TRADERS WARNED: The district administration has asked the traders to avoid creating rush and ensure social distancing while dealing with the consumers as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.

The traffic police have also installed loudspeakers on their cars advising the consumers and traders to keep social distance.

District traffic warden Liaquat Shah told this scribe that the traffic police followed the directives of the district administration.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2020