March 2015 North India unseasonal rain

March 2015 North India Unseasonal Rain and Hailstorm

File:Wheat-crop 650x460 71425213298.jpg Damaged crop due to heavy rainfall and Hailstorm
Damage	113 lakh hectares Harvest damaged in 15 states
Areas affected	North India

The Unseasonal Rain and Hailstorm across all over North India and its connected states caused heavy damaged of crop of Rabi Harvest in March 2015 in India. Usually this period of year rarely gets rain but this year heavy rainfall destroys most of the Winter Harvest that almost near to cut. It directly effects the normal life, especially for farmers those lost their harvest and bag loss for this season. Because of the crop damage on big scale increases the price rise of basic food items. Approximately 106 lakh hectares harvest damaged and 80 Farmers attempted suicide only in March.It is also recorded the wettest march of last 48 years.

Impact

“Usually, from February, western disturbances tend to subside. But this year, not only were the disturbances more active, they extended up to April. Also, there was an induced low pressure, which pulled moisture both from the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. This led to heavy and frequent showers in March In March, 62.5 millimetres of rainfall were recorded, almost 100 per cent more than normal (32.1 millimetres) and the highest in the past 100 years (in 1915, it was 78 millimetres).The showers and hail, which came at a time when the rabi crop was to be harvested, hit about 10 million hectares of the 60 million hectares of sown area. The standing wheat, mustard and chana crops were hit the hardest. Wheat crop in 21 per cent of the overall sown area has been completely damaged.The estimated loss to an average farmer affected by rains has been Rs 20,000 per acre but the government has announced a relief of just Rs 6,800 per hectare for rain fed areas

Affected states and crops

States	Affected Crops
Madhya Pradesh	Chickpea, Wheat,Isabago, Mustard and lentil
Maharashtra	Rabi,sorghum,citrus,Akola, Amaravathi, Yavatmal,Wheat,Chickpea, Onion, Mango,frit
Gujarat	Wheat, Cumin, Mango, Chickpea affected by 15-30%
Telangana	Turmeric, Safflower, Onion, Chillies and Rabi sorghum
Andhra Pradesh	Rice fallow pulses and rabi maize
Punjab	Wheat on heavy textured soils
Karnataka	Rabi Sorghum(10-15%), Chickpea (around 20%), Safflowe
Haryana	Wheat and Mustard crops
Bihar	Wheat,oilseeds and pulses affected because of lodging and water logging
Jharkhand	Oilseeds and pulses crops
Uttar Pradesh	Wheat and mustard
Assam	Boro rice, mustard, potato and cabbage
Meghalaya	Boro rice, mustard, potato and cabbage
Manipur	Boro rice and maize crops
Tripura	Boro rice and maize crops

Farmer suicides

Unseasonal rain and hailstorm caused a big loss of harvest, so many farmers attempted suicide because of failure of harvest and debt burden. Eighty farmers ended their lives only in the month of March.

Coverup

The government India raised the compensation amount for crop damage and made it easier for farmers to claim such compensation after unseasonal rains destroyed standing crops and brought parts of rural India to the brink of crisis. Government has decided to increase the quantum of compensation to affected farmers by 50 per cent over the existing level and also relaxed the norms for availing assistance.