A spell of unseasonal rain in parts of a dozen districts in Gujarat has damaged standing crops, delivering a blow to the farmers.
Under the influence of multiple weather systems acting in tandem, untimely rain has occurred in several parts of the State, causing damage to the standing crops as well as the harvested produce with Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs). The State emergency centre report says the rain occurred in more than 75 taluks since Thursday evening.
Private weather channel Skymet says rain is likely over Gujarat (Saurashtra and south Gujarat) between December 10 and 14, over west and central Madhya Pradesh from December 11 to 14 and Maharashtra region from December 12 to 14. Rajkot, Amreli, Veraval, Junagarh, Bhavnagar, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Gandhinagar, Valsad and Surat are likely to have light rain and showers.
On Thursday and Friday, several parts of the State witnessed light to moderate showers. According to farmers, unseasonal rain has damaged groundnut and cotton in Saurashtra and tuver crop in south Gujarat. “We will see more damage if it rains again and that’s very likely as per the prevailing weather system,” Pareshbhai Kalaria, a farmer from Rajkot district, said. He said the rain has damaged sacks of grains and pulses lying in the open at various APMCs in the region.
The Congress, the Opposition party in the State, and farmers have demanded that the State government assess the damage caused by the unseasonal showers and compensate the farmers.
This article is auto-generated by Algorithm Source: www.thehindu.com
