Farmers feel heat of sudden chill

RAJKOT: Uka Bhatti, a farmer in Amreli's Dintla village, has been praying for sunlight and heat ever since the sudden change in climate resulted in unseasonal rains.
Bhatti is worried that the prolonged spell will damage his mango crop. "I saw withering of flowering on the mango trees due to rains that were coupled with cold and windy weather. This will badly hit the production as well as quality of the fruit," Bhatt told TOI."I have 144 mango trees spread over two acres. If this weather continues, I will suffer at least 25% production loss," Bhatti added.
The unseasonal rains, second time since January, are giving farmers across Saurashtra, especially the mango-growing regions of Junagadh and Amreli sleepless nights. "Since flowering on mango trees is a very sensitive period, any weather change can badly hit its productivity and quality. Apart from unseasonal rainfall, there are winds gusting, which result in withering of flowers,'' said mango orchard owner Mensi Sariya from Talala in Junagadh. Besides mangoes, Rabi crops like wheat, cumin and chana are also under threat if the current weather conditions persist. Wheat has been sowed on 9,52,900 hectare while cumin has been sowed in 2,49,900 hectare. "We have just started harvesting wheat and chana crops. Rains will badly hit the quality and production if current weather persists," said Pratap Parmar, a wheat farmer in Anand district.
According to agriculture department officials, of the total cultivable area in the state, Rabi crops have been sown on 75% area this year.