TIRUCHY: Ill fortune continues to follow banana farmers as gales knocked down ready-to-harvest and mature banana crops in several blocks in the district. Already dealt with a heavy blow from reduced prices in export markets, the winds blew away all hopes of many farmers to continue banana cultivation. Worse, with the weather conditions not coming under insurance schemes, farmers may lose everything.
According to data from IMD and private weather watchdogs, wind speeds reached 20 to 30 knots per hour on Wednesday night along with an average of 15.44 mm rainfall in the district. Due to the hot conditions, district farmers had not taken any precautions to deal with winds or rainfall, which arrived unexpectedly. The weather conditions abruptly changed at night, leaving farmers with little time to protect their crops in places like Kulumani, Adhavathur, Kattuputhur and other villages across the district.
Krishnamurthy, Deputy Director, Horticulture Department, Tiruchy, said, “There are about 4,000 hectares of banana plantations of which 40 hectares in Thottiam were severely affected by the wind.”
He said block-level agriculture officials are inspecting the damage across the district for evaluation.