Rain accompanied with high-velocity wind on Saturday morning led to the lodging of wheat in Punjab’s Malwa belt though state agriculture department officials allayed fears of damage as the crop is yet to mature.

Reports of the crop being affected by the moderate rain and strong wind overnight were received from Bathinda, Faridkot, Moga, Muktsar and Fazilka districts.

Baldev Singh, a farmer from Gobindapura village in Bathinda district, said that wheat crop on his 12 acres had been flattened. “Several fields in our village have been hit,” he said.

Bathinda agriculture officer Manjinder Singh, however, said: “There have been reports of flattening of the crop, but so far the damage is not significant. Department teams will visit the fields to assess the situation on the ground by Sunday. The crop is yet to mature so we are not expecting much damage.”

Moga chief agriculture officer Manjit Singh said: “There has been no significant damage in the district that got 7.5mm of rainfall.”

His Faridkot counterpart, Amrik Singh, also said: “The crop is still maturing so we expect minimal damage that too in a small area. Our teams will visit fields to do the assessment.”

According to the meteorological department, Ludhiana and Amritsar received 15.4mm and 4.2mm of rainfall, respectively. Patiala got 2mm of rainfall, Pathankot 1mm, Bathinda 7mm and Faridkot 4.8mm.

The Union Territory of Chandigarh and Ambala in Haryana too received 8.6 and 5.6 mm of rain, respectively.