Drowned Harvests: Punjab's Farmers Ruined by Worst Floods in Decades

Northern Indian states are reeling under the impact of heavy monsoon rains and flash floods that have submerged entire villages and thousands of hectares of farmland. In Punjab, a key agricultural state where more than 35% of the population relies on farming, the situation is particularly grim. Farmers are facing the worst floods in the last four decades, with large tracts of paddy fields inundated just weeks before harvest .

The scale of the damage is monumental. Initial official estimates point to complete crop loss on more than 450,000 acres of farmland—an area almost the size of Mauritius. Independent agricultural economists, however, warn that the final impact could be five times higher .

"The crop is completely spoiled, their machinery is submerged, and the farmers' houses have washed away," said Lakhwinder Singh, director of the Patiala-based Punjabi University's Centre for Development Economics and Innovations Studies. "Punjab's farmers have to restart from scratch" .

The disaster comes at a time when farmers are already grappling with economic pressures, including trade tensions that have led to a 50% U.S. tariff on some Indian goods. For Singh, the flood is the final blow. He had taken a million-rupee loan (about $11,000) to marry off his eldest daughter and used a portion to sow his paddy, hoping a good sale would clear his debts .

The crisis extends beyond immediate crop loss. The floods have left behind excessive sedimentation and mud, making the land difficult to prepare for the next planting season. Farmers are now racing against time to ready their fields for the winter wheat crop, which must be sown by early November to avoid yield losses .

Adding to the challenges, there are fears of a fertiliser shortage and black marketing, with global urea prices already on the rise . The Punjab government has announced a relief allowance of 20,000 rupees (about $230) for affected farmers, but many, like Gurvinder Singh, find it insufficient to cope with the monumental task of rebuilding their lives and livelihoods .