Losses worth Rs4.33 mln (€2.38 mln) have been suffered by the fruit growers in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh, including Asia Peach valley of Rajgarh. The losses were caused by the stormy weather which caused rain and hailstones from May 29 to May 31.
The windy weather has led to the uprooting of tender plants. The harvest of stone fruits like peach, plum and apricot was underway in the district as it is the peak season.
The unprecedented hails which lashed the district unleased a trail of destruction in the fruit belt which was almost ready for being harvested. Frequent hail and rain, which occurred in May, has left the fruit growers reeling under huge losses.
Deputy Commissioner, Sirmaur, dr R.K. Pruthi said: “As many as 1,168 farmers have suffered losses amounting to 486 metric ton which was almost 30 to 40 per cent of the total yield.”
Apart from 400 apple growers, loss has been suffered by plum, apricot and peach growers. The Rajgarh area of the district is known as the peach valley of Asia. As many as 360 peach growers have suffered crop loss due to hailstones. Apart from this, 100 plum and apricot growers and 45 litchi growers have also suffered losses.
According to tribuneindia.com, the district also has sizeable number of mango growers and 263 growers have suffered loss.
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