ELURU: Farmers in Eluru district are extremely worried about crop loss as heavy rain triggered by Cyclone Murasu has inundated paddy fields and disrupted harvesting in the paddy fields.
With crops at different stages of growth, particularly grain filling and maturity, farmers fear that continued rain could damage both standing crops and harvested grain.
According to the Agriculture Department’s preliminary report, crops in 161 villages spread across 5,309.32 hectares have been inundated, affecting 7,058 farmers. Paddy accounts for 5,249.4 hectares and black gram for 59.92 hectares.
Denduluru reported the highest crop damage, with 1,290 hectares inundated, followed by Dwaraka Tirumala (1,223 ha), Unguturu (1,024.8 ha), Mudinepalle (437 ha) and Mandavalli (324 ha). Officials said much of the affected paddy was at the grain-filling, maturity and harvesting stages.
The district recorded an average rainfall of 46.9 mm on Tuesday.
The heavy rain has left fields wet, making it difficult for farmers to operate harvesting machines. Farmers who have already harvested paddy are also struggling to protect their produce from rain.
They fear that wet grain may lose quality and fetch a lower price or face problems during procurement.
The situation is causing concern in the Nuzvid region, where paddy is being cultivated on nearly 65,706 acres. In Chatrai mandal alone, farmers have raised paddy on around 8,800 acres.