SAMBALPUR: Rain has damaged harvested paddy crop in Sambalpur district.The farmers had kept their harvested crop in the open for drying and threshing. However, the cyclonic storm triggered 13 mm rainfall between Sunday and Monday and 73 mm between Monday and Tuesday damaged those.
Even though the local agriculture officials had informed the farming community about the possibility of heavy rainfall, some farmers could not shift the paddy stock to safe place due to lack of labourers. General secretary of Sambalpur Zilla Krushak Surakhya Sangathan Byomakesh Thakur said this will lead to rise of moisture content and discolouration of paddy grains, making those unfit for fetching minimum support price (MSP). “During procurement, millers will deduct the quantity of paddy on the pretext that the grains are not of fair average quality and have high moisture content. Farmers, who have taken loans to grow paddy, will not get the MSP,” he said.
Collector Samarth Verma said a survey has been started by district agriculture officials to ascertain the crop loss. Report will be submitted to the State Government in the next two days, he added.
Double whammy for Ganjam farmers
Berhampur: FARMERS of Ganjam district, who were severely affected by Titli in October, are yet again facing crop loss due to rain. Both standing and harvested crops have been damaged. Sources said 40 per cent of the standing crops had been harvested in the district and kept in the open for threshing. Standing crops have been inundated and farmers said they would not be able to cut paddy for the next 15 days. Situation in Chikiti block, which saw paddy cultivation in 9,760 hectares, is grim. At least 50 per cent of the standing crops were damaged in Titli and the rest have been destroyed by rain now.