ONGOLE: The unexpected heavy rains due to Cyclone Mandous in the second week of December have left thousands of farmers marooned due to mounting crop loss in thousands of hectares of land in the combined Prakasam district (Tobacco Ongole region including the SBS and SLS regions) limits.
According to official information, in all 11 tobacco auction platform limits (5 of SLS and 6 of SBS region) of the combined district, farmers cultivated tobacco crops in around 39,921 hectares extent for the 2022-23 crop season. Among these, nearly 20,000 hectares of tobacco plantation were under the sheet of rainwater.
As per the reports available, the affected tobacco plantation was in the final leaf-cutting stage.
Almost 90% of the tobacco plants in the affected fields have bent towards the ground and are de-coloured. On the other hand, the recently planted tobacco fields have been inundated in the stagnated rain waters and are rotten and dying due to a lack of photosynthesis.
Farmers are now seeking support from the government and the Tobacco Board to re-plant the tobacco seedlings.
According to the Tobacco Board Executive Director Addanki Sridhar Babu, the Tobacco Board will provide Rs 10,000 in financial support to all the crop-damaged tobacco farmers, from the Farmers Welfare Fund.