VIJAYAWADA: Agriculture Minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy has said agriculture and horticulture crops in 74,432 acres of land worth Rs 243.54 crore were lost due to cyclone Phethai in the State. The losses are likely to be increased as enumeration process is still underway.
Disclosing details of crop loss sustained during the cyclone, the minister said agriculture crops in 60,285 acres of land worth Rs 128.52 crore were damaged, while horticulture crops in 14,147 acres worth Rs 128.52 crore were affected.
“There were rains on Tuesday and Wednesday also and the enumeration process is still continuing. We fear the losses might be more and a clear picture will emerge in a couple of days. Once we get complete details, we will distribute the input subsidies in two to three days,” he said, while reminding that farmers who suffered crop damage during cyclone Titli were provided input subsidies within 20 days.
According to him, the crops were damaged in 140 mandals of eight coastal districts and the paddy crop was damaged the most. Paddy in 29,277 acres, maize in 17,562 acres, pulses in 5,050 acres, cotton in 1,830 acres, tobacco in 5,302 acres were lost. “There have been reports of damage to groundnut and sunflower. We are still enumerating those losses,” he explained.
The minister said horticulture losses were reported in 71 mandals of Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, and Guntur districts. Banana, papaya, green chilli, vegetables, flowers and coconut crops were also damaged, he said.
“We have asked the Civil Supplies department to procure the paddy, drenched in the rain and will make a similar request to the Centre,” he said.
He assured the farmers would be paid more compensation than the stipulated norms under NDRF though it will put an additional burden on the State exchequer. “For the government, welfare of the farmers is the most important,” he said and announced ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the farmers, who died and said hereafter, all the farmers will be brought under the ambit of Chandranna Bheema scheme.
No nod for pvt agriculture colleges
The Agriculture minister clarified that State government was not contemplating to give any permission for private agriculture colleges in the State. Only students of the agriculture colleges, which were accredited by ICAR, will be considered for AV, AEO posts and those who have joined with certificates from any other colleges will be suspended with immediate effect. He said more facilities are being provided in agriculture colleges with an estimated cost of Rs 384 crore.
Cyclone damage
Rs 128.52 crore
worth agriculture crops in 60,285 acres of land
Rs 128.52 crore
worth horticulture crops in 14,147 acres
140
mandals of eight coastal districts bore the brunt of crop loss