Double whammy for farmers as they lose crop in midst of COVID-19 lockdown
Paddy, harvested in some places and ready-to-harvest inothers, was the worst hit while chilli, mango, banana, maizeand other crops too suffered substantial damage in Kadapa,Kurnool, SPS Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur, Krishna, WestGodavari, East Godavari and Srikakulam districts.
Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, at his daily reviewmeeting, directed the authorities concerned on Friday toenumerate the crop losses immediately and extend necessarycompensation to the distressed farmers.
Preliminary estimates by the agriculture department saidpaddy in over 20,000 hectares in many districts was badly hitby the untimely rain.
Rabi paddy harvesting got delayed in many districtsbecause of the ongoing lockdown and the produce that was keptto dry after the harvest got soaked.
In Krishna district alone, paddy crop in over 9,700hectares was damaged while in neighbouring West Godavari thedamage was spread over 6,600 ha.
In West Godavari and SPS Nellore districts, ready-to-harvest mango is now almost lost because of the gale storm.
Similarly, banana plantations in Kadapa, Kurnool, Nelloreand West Godavari districts suffered extensive damage as treeswere uprooted.
In Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts, chillisuffered severe damage.
At many places, the harvested chilli was left in theyards for drying up and the sudden rain left it soaked.
Crops like cashew, sunflower and green gram were damagedin Srikakulam district.
"We are obtaining reports from each district on theextent of damage to each crop.
The enumeration will take a few days because of thelockdown and a clear picture on the damages will be known onlyafter that," a senior official of the State DisasterManagement Authority said. DBV APRRAVINDRANATH APRRAVINDRANATH