New Delhi, March 21 -- Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday reviewed the condition of winter-planted crops in the country as torrential rains and hailstorms battered fertile northern, central and western plains, damaging harvest-ready wheat, rapeseed and horticulture produce. Chouhan called upon senior officials to coordinate with state governments for speedy assessment of crops and asked them to hold meetings with insurance companies to ensure time-bound payments of claims from farmers, a farm ministry official said. Farmers and producer groups from several food-bowl states have reported damage to large tracts of farmland as squally weather disrupted harvesting operations and dislodged ripening crops. Crop losses coul...