BERHAMPUR: With farmers yet to recover from the damage caused by incessant rains due to cyclone Jawad four days back, sudden rainfall in the wee hours of Thursday, December 9, 2021, furthered their misery leaving them with no option to save crops.
As per reports, the assessment on the damage caused due to unseasonal rains in mid-November as well as on Sunday last has not been done. “I had managed to save some of my crops earlier but Thursday’s rain caused massive damage to standing crops ready for harvest,” said Subhash Jena, a farmer of Kalajamuna village. Similar is the plight of Jaya Pradhan of Beguniapada who had stored the harvested paddy at a threshing ground that is now submerged. Several other farmers were seen trying to drain out rainwater from the fields.
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The worst hit are the share croppers who make up for around 2.5 lakh out of the total 5.20 lakh farmers in the district. While land-owning farmers are entitled for loans from banks and cooperative societies, the sharecroppers are deprived of any such facilities as they are yet to be officially recognised as farmers. In the event of crop loss, they now stare at huge debts since they take up cultivation by availing personal loans.
Farmer bodies including Rushikulya Rayat Mahasabha and Krantikari Krushak Sabha have now urged Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to include share croppers in the bonafide list of farmers so that they can avail of government benefits and compensation as per the existing relief code.