Farmers in the state were already ruing the impact of the extended winter on the mango crop and the unseasonal rains are now going to aggravate the situation. The state on Tuesday received unseasonal rains in April with some places also recording hailstorms, which could severely impact the standing mango crop. Ramesh Viradia, a retired professor of Junagadh Agricultural University said that unseasonal rains and particularly hailstorms, can be very detrimental for standing mango crops. "Due to hailstorm, the mango crop which at this time of year is about 100 gm to 200 gm in size, will drop. This will mean a loss of crop. Moreover, cloudy weather and unseasonal rains also increase the risk of the crop getting pest infected and diseased," said Viradia. Viradia added that the damage to standing crops is also decided by the time period and intensity of the unseasonal weather. "Say, if the rains arrived for a few seconds or if the hailstorm was for a short duration, the damage would be limited. But if the intensity of rain or hailstorm was severe, even during a short period, it can cause considerable damage," said Viradia. He said the mango crop is particularly sensitive to changes in weather. It should be noted that farmers in the state were already ruing the impact of the extended winter on the mango crop and the unseasonal rains are now going to aggravate the situation. Apart from Junagadh and Amreli which is home to the famous Kesar, south Gujarat and Kutch also contribute substantially to mango production in the state. Gaurav Patel, chairman of the Unjha APMC said that since the jeera crop has already been cultivated and is already in warehouses, the weather will not have an impact. "But it will affect the mango, watermelon and muskmelon crop and overall output for this summer," said Patel. He said markets that have not made provisions for safely securing the already procured crops may see some losses. Sources - https://www.dnaindia.com/