Cold wave kills crops, farmers' hopes

Chandigarh/Adampur (Punjab): The coldest winter in recent memory is threatening to push farmers in north India to the brink.

Vegetable crops in Punjab and other north Indian states are hardest hit by the icy winds. Production of vegetables is likely to suffer and farmers are anticipating big losses this winter.

Debt was one of their greatest worries, but now severe cold and icy winds have unleashed their fury on the farmers of Punjab. The production of potatoes, peas, tomatoes, chillies, capsicum, and brinjal has been badly affected..

"We have already suffered huge losses, and this is for the first time that we are facing sucha harsh winter," Mohammed Saleem, a farmer, says.

Only 10 per cent of the total potato crop has been harvested so far and it is not expected to go up either.

“The crop has been badly affected and if we take a conservative estimate, the crop losses in Punjab could be close to 35 per cent,” J S Kang, Head of Potato Research Centre, Jalandhar, says.

But the farmers are not the only ones who are worried. Multinational companies like Pepsico, Mahindra and Chambal Agro are also sailing in the same boat.

The agricultural loss is bound to have an adverse affect on these companies, as the supply of raw materials will be badly hit. However, experts say all is not lost yet and new crops can be revived and saved if precautionary measures are taken.

The demand for compensation is likely to increase, and for a government that is entering into its election year, this winter is definitely going to have a chilling effect.

Meanwhile, life has come to a complete standstill in the Adampur village of Punjab. This village recorded the lowest temperature in north India at minus one degree celsius on Monday. For the past few days, temperature here has continued to remain below zero degrees.

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“In my entire lifetime, I have never seen such bitter cold. Crops including potato have been destroyed,” Manjit Singh, an Adampur-based farmer, says.

Weather experts say cold winds from the Himalayan range are converging in the village.

“A lot of patients come with red swollen hands and feet. It is all because of the cold,” Narender Singh, a doctor, says.

Experts at Adampur airbase have warned that temperatures plummet yet again on Tuesday, but the temperature will return to normal after a few days.

Cold is not just taking a toll on agricultural produce as even the human death toll on the rise in Rajasthan where, so far, six people have been reported killed. The Churu district is reeling under sub-zero temperature for the last four days.

The temperature in this district was minus 1.6 degree Celsius on Monday night. The overnight dew converted into frost and most residents of Churu chose to stay indoors.

The Met Department predicts the temperatures will continue to plummet for at least another couple of days.

In New Delhi, the temperature has gone up by two degrees and the weatherman has predicted that it will remain sunny and bright for some days to come, however, the chilly winds will continue.

(with inputs from Sushmit Sarkar, Neha Seth and Tanima Biswas)