Moga, April 10 Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait said on Friday that the government should provide compensation and immediate relief to farmers whose crops have been damaged by recent unseasonal rain.
Tikait said that farmers in Punjab are still struggling in the aftermath of last year's massive floods, and now unseasonal rain and hailstorms in some areas have further aggravated their situation.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a seminar here on farmers' issues, Tikait said the government should provide compensation and immediate relief to the affected farmers.
Notably, Punjab Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian had on Wednesday urged the Centre to immediately send a high-level team to assess the damage caused to wheat and other Rabi crops by recent heavy rainfall accompanied by hailstorms in the state.
Khudian had detailed the efforts being undertaken by the Punjab government in the face of the crisis, saying that the state has already ordered a special crop loss assessment to understand the extent of damage.
Responding to a question, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader said that last year, Punjab farmers faced major losses due to massive floods, but they did not receive the kind of relief they should have received from the government.
He said that they regularly hold seminars, panchayats, and protests across the country on farmers' issues.
He addressed the farmers at the seminar organized by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal) here.
The event, which was also addressed by BKU (Lakhowal) leader Harinder Singh Lakhowal and other farmer leaders, discussed various problems faced by farmers.
Tikait said that agricultural experts were also present at the event, who gave suggestions to farmers.
He said that while farmers take their produce to the mandis, they are not receiving adequate prices for it.
Concerns were raised regarding the declining groundwater levels in Punjab, and measures to conserve water were discussed.
Tikait pointed out that despite being an agrarian state, farmers in Punjab are under heavy debt, and called for concrete steps to pull them out of this situation.
Tikait urged farmers to also adopt alternative and natural farming methods and to reduce their over-reliance on chemical-based farming.
