YADADRI/NIZAMABAD/ WARANGAL/ADILABAD: The hailstorms that had battered the district in the last few days, left a trail of destruction in the district. The farmers’ morale lay broken as 20,000 quintals of paddy either got soaked or washed away at market yards even before the officials could procure it. The paddy crop in about 14,000 acres got submerged.
The officials had estimated that the paddy, which was raised in 2.89 lakh acres, would give a yield of 7.23 lakh metric tonnes. Expecting five lakh metric tonnes of paddy, the district authorities have set up 302 IKP and PACS purchase centres for its procurement. Most of the farmers cultivated paddy under borewells which is the main reason for the delay in harvesting.
The crop is yet to be harvested in several areas. The authorities are not sure when the crop would arrive at the procurement centres. Farmers began harvesting the crop from the first week of April and began taking it to the procurement centres in small quantities but the officials did not initiate any measures to procure it.
G Anjaiah, a farmer of Kolanupaka in Alair Mandal, said that though he brought paddy to the centre early and requested the officials to procure it, they did not respond immediately. He rented a tarpaulin at Rs 40 per day to protect the produce from sudden rains. Procurement began on April 11 in Nalgonda and Suryapet districts but in Yadadri, it started only on April 21.
A farmer, B Veeraiah, blamed the negligence of the officials for the damage to the paddy that had been done by the rains. “Now my paddy is soaked. I want the officials to pay MSP for this because they did not start procurement early,” he said.
Yadadri district Additional Collector D Srinivas Reddy said that due to the canal ayakat in Nalgonda and Suryapet districts, paddy harvesting was completed quickly and buying centres started early. As there is no canal ayakat in Yadadri district, farmers cultivate crops under borewells. This results in delayed harvesting. “We have so far procured about 16,976 metric tonnes of paddy. We will buy wet grain also. We have enough tarpaulins, gunny bags, and moisture and weighing machines at the 302 procurement centres across the district,” he said.
Crop in 25,000 acres damaged
In Nizamabad and Kamareddy districts, the recent rains in March and April have wrought havoc with standing crops.In the two districts, extensive crop damage has been reported in the last two months.
Meanwhile, rains are continuing, causing damage every day to the standing crops and the paddy that has been brought to the procurement centers.
The Agricultural Department is collecting data only about the standing crops. Nizamabad District Agricultural Officer (DAO) R Thirumala Prasad said that as of now damage has been reported to crop in 25,000 acres in the district.
He said that on April 29 and 30, crops in an area of 1,817 acres had been damaged. Of that, 1,767 acres are paddy. The mandals where crop had been damaged include Bheemgal, Sirikonda, Dharpally, Kotagir, Kammarpally, Makloor, and Nizamabad South Mandals.
Kamareddy District Agricultural Officer (DAO) G Veeraswami said that in the month of April, crop has been damaged in 59,000 acres. Most of the damaged crop was paddy. As many as 40,156 farmers were affected by the damage done to their paddy crop. They had raised paddy in 2.50 lakhs acres.Meanwhile, Kamareddy District Collector Jitesh V Patil inspected the paddy crop damaged by rains. He visited several agricultural fields in Pedda Mallareddy village in Bhiknoor mandal. He directed the officials to visit the crops affected by hailstorms and make an assessment of the damage.
Procurement delay
Farmers rushing to paddy to procurement centres to sell their produce in Jangaon district were left high and dry as incessant rain damaged paddy. The dilly-dallying by the district administration and civil supply department officials is being blamed for the loss caused to the farmers. In view of unseasonal rain battering the State, Revenue and gram panchayat authorities have advised the farmers to store their produce in schools to protect it from rain for some time. However, the farmers in their rush to sell the produce rushed to the procurement centres and suffered heavy damage.
Twelve mandals in the district received rainfall on Sunday night with Palakurthy recording 124.6 mm rainfall, Devaruppula 122.8 mm, Lingala Ghanpur 100.8 mm and Tharigopula 76.2 mm.According to the official data, paddy in 45,000 acres and mango in 3,000 acres were damaged in the rain and hailstorm. On Sunday night alone, paddy crop in 750 acres was damaged in the district.Jangain District Civil Supply officials stated that a total of 200 purchasing centres have been opened to purchase paddy with a target to procure 2,30,000 metric tonnes from farmers.
Rivers overflowing
Rain in the last two days has further battered maize, paddy, jowar, vegetable and mango crops in Adilabad district. The rivers are overflowing at several places in the district. In Khanapur mandal, paddy brought to the procurement centres by farmers got soaked in the rain. Congress leaders staged a protest over the alleged delay in procuring paddy by the authorities.
While the rain played havoc on mango crops in Mancherial district, maize and jowar crops suffered huge damage in Boath mandal. Maize brought to the procurement centres in Kubeer, Kuntala and Bhainsa got soaked in rainwater.
Meanwhile, the bridge across Sathnala Vagu near Tharnam village has developed cracks and the district administration has prohibited plying of vehicles on it. The temporary road built for passage of vehicles has been washed away causing immense inconvenience to the people in Jainath and Bela mandals.