India, April 7 -- Unseasonal hailstorms and torrential rain have devastated rabi crops across Rajasthan and Punjab.

In Bikaner's Arjunsar region, farmers report 100 per cent loss of wheat, mustard and chana.

Delayed crop insurance payment heightens distress.

In farmer Bhagirath Karwasra's 7.5-hectare (ha) field, a thick white blanket stretches to every corner, like a hill station after a snowfall, except this is Bikaner in Rajasthan, and it is April, and nothing here is supposed to be white.

During April 2-4, the sky unleashed repeated spells of rain and sudden barrages of hail, with some hailstones as large as lemons, in his village in Bikaner district. "One hundred per cent gone," said Karwasra, when asked about crop damage. Wheat, ...