KENDRAPARA: The recent flood fury in Kendrapara district has affected standing paddy saplings and vegetable crops raising apprehensions of shortfall in production. Besides, sugarcane and jute, often grown as secondary crops, have also been affected.
“The recent floods have come as a bolt from the blue and left us devastated,” said Pravat Mallick, a farmer of Singhagaon village under Pattamundai block. His two-acre paddy field has been inundated and he has no way to recover from the crisis.
“It is a difficult time for the farmers now. Apart from affecting food grains, the flood has also taken a toll on vegetable crops in many areas which will lead to price rise,” said secretary of the district Krusaka Sabha, Umesh Chandra Singh.
Large tracts of crops like radish, ladies finger, beans, brinjal, pointed gourd, wild snake gourd, and other seasonal vegetables have been damaged in the flood.The flooding came just two months after farmers planted paddy saplings. “If paddy saplings remain underwater for two to three days, the saplings either get destroyed or wilted,” said a farmer.
The farmers of riverside villages of the district used to supply vegetables to the markets of Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and other areas of the state. But the devastating flood damaged hundreds of green patches in the riverside areas, said senior Congress leader and former minister Ganeswar Behera.
Though floodwater is receding in the rivers, so far, around 1,19,507 people of 118 villages in the district have reportedly been affected. “We have directed the chief district agriculture officer to submit a report on the crop loss after visiting the flood-hit villages. After getting the report, affected farmers will get government help,” said sub-collector Niranjan Behera.