Unseasonal rains destroy crops, fields remain waterlogged in Mathura

MATHURA: It's as if elephants trampled Kaptan's 2.5-acre wheat field. The crop lies flattened, the golden kernels turning black. As the 38-year-old farmer steps into his field at Chaumuhan, barely 2 km off NH 2, his feet sink into two-inch deep slush. Four days after a severe hailstorm pummelled the district, his farm, like countless others in this block, remains waterlogged.

"There's nothing left to harvest. It'll take 10 days for the field to dry," says Kaptan with a vacant expression. "Ghar mein bachche khana maangte hain. Mann karta hai is khet mein hi jaan de doon (My children demand food. I feel like killing myself right here in this field)."

Friday's hailstorm was the latest in a series of tragedies that have made Mathura district one of the ground zeroes of farm distress. It started with a drought last monsoon - when Mathura received 42% rain - hitting paddy output. Golden basmati prices dropped to around a third of the previous year due to export restrictions, compounding the losses.

Then in February came the freak rains. "The downpour first spoilt a lot of the potato crop that was almost ready for harvest. Prices of the water-soaked vegetable sank to Rs 100-150 per sack whereas it earlier sold for Rs 1,000. Many farmers have left the crop in the field to cut losses," says potato grower Pramod Singh.

Despite the rains, farmers had banked on returns from wheat, the main Rabi crop sown this year in 1.64 lakh hectares of the district's 2.54 lakh hectares of farmland.

The hailstorm buried that hope. "The first rains bent the crop. We still believed the harvest wouldn't be affected. More showers followed, accompanied by high winds. The stalks started touching the ground. The hail was the killer blow. The crop is flattened and the wheat heads lie wet in the ground," says Rajbir Singh, who owns 20 acres at Chaumuhan, all filled with destroyed wheat.

The unseasonal rain has been unrelenting. District agriculture department official Rakesh Babu said Mathura received 55mm rain in March, more than 11 times the normal 5.4mm. "Around 18mm more has fallen in the first six days of April, almost four times the month's average of 5mm," says Babu.

Rajbir demonstrates the effect of the sustained wet weather. He takes wheat kernels and rubs them with both hands. Pointing to the shrivelled grain in his hands, he says: "This grain is so light it'll go with the chaff while threshing. The rains first bloated the grain, which burst out of the kernel and got exposed to the sun, and shrivelled."

It's the same story in most villages of block Chaumuhan, which literally means four-headed - an allusion to Brahma - and boasts of having one of only two Brahma temples in the country.

Barring the rare fields sown very late in the season - where the wheat is more or less intact - farmers were trying to salvage whatever was left of the crop. "A farmer lives on hope. But much of the wheat that can be harvested wouldn't be fit to eat," says 66-year-old Keshav Dev, former Pradhan of Pilhora village.

"We've declared the district's wheat crop to be more than 50% affected," says Mathura DM Rajesh Kumar. "We're seeking a compensation of Rs 331 crore. Half of this will come from the Centre on the basis of relief of Rs 9,000 per hectare, which the state would equally match."

With PM Modi announcing an enhanced compensation package on Wednesday, Mathura farmers are now eligible for Rs 13,500 per hectare from the Centre. On the DM's orders, revenue officials are in villages, taking down farmers' bank account numbers and listing those who don't have accounts.

But farmers remain sceptical about relief reaching them. "After last season's drought, there was talk of compensation. None came our way. In 2006, the last time a hailstorm destroyed crops here, a compensation of Rs 3,000 per hectare was announced. We got Rs 1,000," says Rajbir.

A couple of kilometres away towards Vrindavan, Mathura MP Hema Malini stares out of hoardings, striking a dance pose with her daughters. These are promos for Hema's brainchild, Braj Mahostav, a cultural extravaganza featuring Bollywood stars. The festival was scheduled for April 11-12, but has been put off following farmer protests after last week's hailstorm. On Tuesday, she toured her constituency to assess the damage.

Farmers have been sounding the alarm over another looming crises - a shortage of fodder for livestock. "The fodder comes from the wheat stem. With much of the crop destroyed, I fear fodder would soon be selling for Rs 10 per kg," says Keshav Dev, pointing to a stack of rotten wheat stalk.