About Rs 3,000 crore worth of wheat crop has been damaged in Punjab due to unseasonal rains and hailstorm this month, the state's Agriculture Minister Sardar Tota Singh said today.

In view of crop losses, the Punjab government has already approached the Centre seeking compensation for the farmers.

"Both the state and central agencies procure wheat worth Rs 15,000 crore from the state. About 15-20 per cent of wheat crop seems to have got damaged which would result in the loss of about Rs 3,000 crore," told Singh.

He also said that about 50 per cent of the potato crop has been affected in the state, and the exact loss in value terms is being assessed.

India's wheat production is estimated at 95.76 million tonnes in the 2014-15 crop year (July-June), as against 95.85 MT in last year.

Punjab normally produces wheat in the range of 15-16 MT. The crop is ready for harvesting from April onwards. The Centre aims to procure 30 million tonnes of wheat this year to meet the requirement of ration shops.

"There has been logging in timely sown wheat crop because of ongoing rains and strong winds. About 10-20 per cent of the crop which has got flattened may get damaged," Karnal-based Indian Institute of Wheat & Barley Research, Director, Indu Sharma had said recently.

Concerned over the losses caused to crops due to recent rains in the region, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had yesterday sought an upward revision of the compensation to the affected farmers at the rate of Rs 10,000 per acre.

Badal has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh apprising them of the agony and pain of a large number of farmers who have suffered heavy losses due to sudden and erratic changes in weather.

The Chief Minister has informed that over 7 lakh acres of cultivated area has been affected as per the initial reports and the damage was much higher in the case of vegetables and other horticulture crops.

In order to effectively compensate the affected farmers, Badal had said that the relief norms need to be adequate and that the present norm of Rs 3,600 per acre for 100 per cent loss was too inadequate as it does not even provide for the input cost of farmers.

Source - http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/