Paddies are small, flat, flooded fields used to grow grain in South and East Asia. Paddy crops in the north Indian states of Punjab and Haryana have reportedly been affected by persistent high winds and rain since last week.
According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), the states are likely to witness rains on Tuesday as well.
Paddy, one of India's staple crops, is generally harvested around this season, and farmers sell their produce at mandis (local wholesale grains markets).
But even those who had harvested the crop found themselves in an uncomfortable situation, with sacks of rice getting soaked in the showers.
This year seems to be one of the worst years for paddy growers while sowing the crop, it first got destroyed due to floods in July and August, followed by re-transplantation, and now incremented due to hailstorm and strong winds, inflicted damaging and delaying harvest by about one week to 10 days.
As per Punjab Mandi Board a total of 0.132 million tonnes of paddy reached the state's purchase centres on 16 October. This was 36% less than on Sunday when 0.206 million tonnes reached the mandis.
Meanwhile, except for the Fazilka districts of Punjab, all the districts in the state have recorded 14 to 880 percent excess rainfall in the past week. Meanwhile, Punjab Agriculture Director Jaswant Singh also confirmed the damage to the crop in a few districts and said rain has delayed paddy harvest by almost 10 days.
Apart from the Fazilka district in Punjab, all other districts in the state have experienced an increase in rainfall ranging from 14% to 80% over the course of the last week. Meanwhile, Punjab Agriculture Director Jaswant Singh also confirmed the damage to crops in some districts and said the rains had delayed the paddy harvest by almost 10 days.