THENI: Strong winds and relentless downpour over the past few days wreaked havoc in parts of the state, destroying banana plant in hundreds of acres in districts including Theni, Dindigul, Coimbatore and Salem.
Theni was the worst hit as banana plants were damaged following gusty winds on at least 2,000 acres. In Andipatti taluk, about 3,000 trees were damaged in Periyakulam and Chinnamanur.
S Senthil from Aasaipatti in Andipatti, who said he suffered heavy losses after losing nearly 1,500 red banana plants on his two acres, said, “Farmers who carefully nurtured their crops for several months, expecting good returns, are now in deep distress.”
An official from the agriculture department said, “Under UATT 2.0 (Uzhavar-Aluvalar Thodarbu Thittam), the village administrative officer, assistant agriculture officer and assistant horticulture officer are jointly conducting a survey to assess the extent of banana crop loss and are updating the details in the app. We can ascertain the extent of damage only after the survey.”
In the western parts of the state, thousands of banana plants were damaged across parts of Mettur in Salem district, and Mettupalayam and Annur of Coimbatore district on Saturday evening. The damage has been reported predominantly from Lakkampatti in Mettur, where a large extent of banana plantation has been affected, besides Kolathur and certain areas in Gangavalli. They pointed out that usually, bananas fetch around Rs 50 per kg, but due to the damage, entire bunches are now being sold for Rs 30 to Rs 40.
In Coimbatore’s Pattakaranur, coconut trees maintained for over two years were also uprooted. Farmers reported that over 50,000 banana plants were uprooted in Annur and Mettupalayam taluks on Saturday evening.
(With inputs from Salem and Coimbatore)