Wheat Crop Destroyed

At least 20 trains were cancelled after farmers squatted on railway tracks at several places in Punjab on Tuesday as part of their four-hour 'rail roko' agitation against the value cut announced by the Centre on wheat grain shrivelled.

Tonnes of standing wheat crop was reduced to ashes in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh on Saturday after overhead electrical wires came in contact with each other and sparks flew.

Some farmers in Haryana destroyed their wheat crop in protest against the Centre's new agriculture laws, prompting political and farmer leaders to appeal to them not to resort to such drastic measures.

First, Satish Chand, a farmer from Chhata village in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district, lost his entire wheat crop worth Rs 80,000, because of the unseasonal March rains and hailstorms. Then, to add insult to injury, the meagre Rs. 18,000 compensation cheque he got from the state government, bounced, yesterday, because the revenue officer's bank acc...

Unseasonal rains this year have dampened the spirits of Punjab farmers celebrating Baisakhi. As opposed to a heap of wheat crop - enough to run a community kitchen for months - this year the farmers are offering a more humble quantity of their produce, hitting hard a centuries old tradition.

The Punjab government has projected a damage of around three lakh hectares of farming due to this year's unseasonal rains. By state government estimates most standing crops - wheat, mustard, potato, and grams - have been damaged between February and March because of hailstorms and heavy rains.

Newbie Gohana farmer, Birender Mor, 27, killed himself on March 8, very soon after unseasonal rains destroyed the wheat crop on land he was tilling on contract. He knew he wouldn't be able to start repaying the more than 10 lakh rupee loan he had borrowed from banks and others. And he couldn't bear that shame.

At least 20 trains were cancelled after farmers squatted on railway tracks at several places in Punjab on Tuesday as part of their four-hour 'rail roko' agitation against the value cut announced by the Centre on wheat grain shrivelled.

Tonnes of standing wheat crop was reduced to ashes in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh on Saturday after overhead electrical wires came in contact with each other and sparks flew.

Some farmers in Haryana destroyed their wheat crop in protest against the Centre's new agriculture laws, prompting political and farmer leaders to appeal to them not to resort to such drastic measures.

First, Satish Chand, a farmer from Chhata village in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district, lost his entire wheat crop worth Rs 80,000, because of the unseasonal March rains and hailstorms. Then, to add insult to injury, the meagre Rs. 18,000 compensation cheque he got from the state government, bounced, yesterday, because the revenue officer's bank acc...

Unseasonal rains this year have dampened the spirits of Punjab farmers celebrating Baisakhi. As opposed to a heap of wheat crop - enough to run a community kitchen for months - this year the farmers are offering a more humble quantity of their produce, hitting hard a centuries old tradition.

The Punjab government has projected a damage of around three lakh hectares of farming due to this year's unseasonal rains. By state government estimates most standing crops - wheat, mustard, potato, and grams - have been damaged between February and March because of hailstorms and heavy rains.

Newbie Gohana farmer, Birender Mor, 27, killed himself on March 8, very soon after unseasonal rains destroyed the wheat crop on land he was tilling on contract. He knew he wouldn't be able to start repaying the more than 10 lakh rupee loan he had borrowed from banks and others. And he couldn't bear that shame.