SANGAREDDY: Paddy farmers’ hopes of a good harvest this year have been drowned by the brown plant hopper. Officials estimate that a whopping 15,000 acres of paddy crop have been damaged in the united erstwhile Medak district causing losses to over 8,000 farmers. Farmers are now worried that they might not even get compensation as it’s usually doled out only in times of drought. Farmers who have insured their crop claim losses due to brown plant hopper attacks are not covered by the provider.
Officials of agricultural department say farmers in Medak and Sangareddy districts have been hit the worst. According to their estimates, about 8,000 acres of the crop was lost in Sangareddy alone. There were cases of farmers burning their crops fearing pest would spread.
Siddipet district agriculture officer P Shravan said there were only ‘some’ cases of the pest attack and it destroyed not more than 25 per cent of the total cultivation. He also said there were no options to pay farmers hit by pest. “The government and insurance companies will only pay for destructions caused due to natural calamities,” he said.
Sangareddy district agriculture officials said 15 of the 26 mandals have been affected by pest-related disease. Farmers union, based on preliminary estimates, claim loss to farmers in Sangareddy is close to `30 crore. The department has sent a report on crop loss to the government.