THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With losses to Kerala's flood-ravaged farm sector pegged at over Rs 1000 crore, the government has started procuring vegetables and fruits from neighbouring states to fill the huge gap in availability to ensure adequate supply in the markets and relief camps.
As on Monday, the loss to the farm sector has been estimated at Rs 1004.34 crore, senior agriculture department officials said. ''We have started purchasing mainly from farmers in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. For a few vegetables we have also approached Maharashtra,'' Justin Mohan, director, Agriculture Department, said. This year, the Agriculture Department had originally decided to cut down 'imports' from neighbouring states to promote internal procurement. But sustained rainfall and consequent floods had devastated the vegetable-growing districts leaving a 90 per cent shortfall in supply, the agriculture director said.
The department is purchasing the vegetables and fruits directly from the farmers to keep procurement expenses as low as possible. ''We have decided to procure almost all varieties from outside in view of the crisis. We have to ensure adequate supplies in the markets as well as the relief camps where over seven lakh people have been transferred,'' Justin Mohan said. As many as 2000 Onam-Bakrid vegetable markets have opened across the state as a low-key affair. The Agriculture Department has also asked district administrations to inform them of the local demand. Except in the panchayats that still remain flood-affected, every panchayat has at least one special vegetable shop.
As per Monday's figures, crop loss has been reported in 45,988.5 hectares across all 14 districts with paddy, banana, rubber, vegetables, tubers, cardamom and coconut listed among the worst-affected. For instance, 18,316.38 hectares of main-field paddy land and 561.7 hectares of nursery paddy fields have been destroyed. The floods and landslips have affected 2,80,442 farmers in all. Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Palakkad, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam and Wayanad have reported the highest losses in agriculture. As many as 78,458 farmers have been affected by the calamity in Alappuzha, 59,544 in Pathanamthitta, 35,996 in Kottayam and 26,406 in Idukki.
CROP LOSS
Worst-affected districts: Area (hectares) Estimated loss (Rs)
