Chandigarh: Punjab agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian on Wednesday urged the Centre to immediately send a high-level team to assess the damage caused to wheat and other rabi crops by recent heavy rainfall accompanied by hailstorms in the state.In a letter to Union agriculture and farmers welfare minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Khudian highlighted the severe impact of recent inclement weather on the wheat crop, stating that wheat was sown on 35 lakh hectares this season and promised a bumper yield, but incessant rainfall and hailstorms caused significant damage. “As per the preliminary assessment by the state agriculture department, crop loss has been reported on over 1.3 lakh acres. The damage is spreading as rain continues and the final figure may rise,” Khudian informed.He added the damage is not limited to wheat, but extends to vegetables, fodder and other rabi crops across multiple districts, including Fazilka, Ferozepur, Muktsar Sahib, Bathinda, Amritsar, Moga and Mansa. Khudian said the state had already ordered a special girdawari to assess crop damage.Given the scale of losses and the financial strain on farmers, he sought immediate relief and compensation from the Centre. Khudian emphasised a central team was needed urgently for a detailed assessment, while assuring the state govt remained committed to supporting its farmers and would extend all necessary cooperation and support to the central team.To assess the crop loss, over 500 officials of the agriculture department had been pressed into service in affected areas of seven districts in the state, he said. The deployed staff, including 145 Group A agriculture officers, are specifically monitoring operations in affected districts — Amritsar, Muktsar Sahib, Fazilka, Bathinda, Mansa, Ferozepur and Moga. “These teams have been directed to work in close coordination with the revenue department to ensure the smooth execution of the special girdawari,” he said.
