Jharkhand Weather Alert: Hailstorms Threaten Mango, Litchi, and Rabi Crops

Ranchi: Frequent changes in weather coupled with rain and hailstorms pose a threat to fruits such as mangoes and litchis, and vegetables, besides some late rabi crops, experts said.

Parts of the state, including Ranchi, have been witnessing hailstorms over the past few days, accompanied by lightning and thunderstorms. Though people are getting a little respite from the heat generated during the day, hailstorms can affect standing or harvested crops, besides causing harm to fruits such as mango and litchi, experts said.

Sambhunath Karmakar, chairman of the department of agronomy at Birsa Agricultural University (BAU), said that rain and hailstorms can cause a lot of damage to standing crops and ready-to-be-harvested and even recently harvested produce such as mustard seeds.

“Hailstorms can cause damage to grains and in turn it may hamper seed production and quality. For example, wheat or arhar dal (yellow lentil) can be damaged and production affected due to moisture accumulation,” Karmakar said.

“Farmers who sowed late rabi crops such as wheat, which are yet to be harvested, may face losses as earheads or spikes can be affected by rain or hailstorm. But such a phenomenon will benefit farmers who have sown summer moong as rainwater will provide irrigation for the crop,” he said.

Sanyat Mishra, head of the department of horticulture at BAU, said that besides various crops, some vegetables and fruits can be affected by hailstorms, especially during flowering stage. “Thunderstorms can cause fruits to fall from trees, especially mango and litchi. They may also get damaged by hailstorms. For vegetables, a little bit of rain is good, but beyond that it becomes harmful. Vegetables such as pointed gourd, apple gourd, bottle gourd, brinjal and some others also get affected by hailstorms,” Mishra said.

The Met office has predicted thunderstorm/lightning and gusty winds (30-40 kmph) at isolated places over northern and central parts of the state on Wednesday. It also predicted thunderstorm/lightning with hailstorm and gusty winds (50-60 kmph) at isolated places over northeastern part and thunderstorm/lightning and gusty winds (40-50 kmph) over the rest of the state on Tuesday.