Floods damage 2.40 lakh hectares of paddy crop in Punjab

Farmers will be given paddy nurseries for replantation and will be encouraged to sow PR 126 variety of paddy and also basmati.

Around 2.40 lakh hectares of paddy area was feared damaged after getting flooded by incessant rains in several parts of Punjab, a senior official said on Friday.

"Paddy area of 2.40 lakh hectares has been affected (because of rains) and out of which the crop over 83,000 hectares will be resown," said the official.

The paddy crop was damaged mainly in farms in Patiala, Sangrur, Mohali, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, and Fatehgarh Sahib districts. The official said farmers will be given paddy nurseries for replantation and will be encouraged to sow PR 126 variety of paddy and also basmati, said the official.

A special girdawari will be conducted to assess the exact crop loss, he said. Punjab grows paddy, which is a Kharif crop, over 30 lakh hectares.