UDUPI: Paddy and Mattu Gulla crop in Kaup taluk of Udupi have sustained serious damage as heavy downpour submerged the low-lying areas in the taluk. Farmers who were set to harvest paddy in Kaup, Majoor, Mallar, Belapu Palimar and Padoor among other places are dejected as they cannot harvest the crop as their fields are submerged.
Mattu Gulla (brinjal variety with GI tag) growers have also faced loss due to incessant untimely rain in the region. Mattu Gulla Growers’ Association president Sunil D Bangera said that most of the brinjal growers have decided to replant the saplings as their planted saplings have rotten in the submerged rainwater. ‘’The present method of compensating just Rs 135 per cent of crop damaged is unscientific. The compensation money has to be properly calculated,’’ he said.
It is to be noted that rental paddy harvesting machines had reached villages across Udupi this week, but farmers are apprehensive to start work as movement of those machines in the paddy field is not possible in the flooded fields. Revenue and the agriculture department officials have been asked by the farmers to conduct the field visit to assess the loss and prepare the list of farmers who have suffered huge losses due to heavy rains four days ago and compensate them immediately.
Praveen Shetty Gurme, a farmer from Kaup said that as the paddy fields are submerged, the harvesting machines cannot be taken to paddy fields. The farmers are also worried as they cannot sell the harvested crop for a good price as the government has not yet declared the minimum support price for paddy. Pushpalatha, an agriculture department official from Kaup taluk said that farmers should reach out to her at her office to apply for compensation for loss of paddy crop. “The compensation amount has been fixed at `6,800 per two and a half acres damaged by rain,’’ she added.