JAGATSINGHPUR: Paddy farmers are in distress as heavy rainfall and strong wind during cyclone Bulbul has damaged their standing crops on thousands of hectares of land in different areas of the district. Paddy was cultivated on 86,220 hectare of land in the district.
The farmers, who had procured certified seeds from the Agriculture department and Odisha Seed Supply Corporation (OSSC), were hoping for a bumper crop. However, despite supply of poor quality of seeds to them, they had kept their hopes alive. Now, the cyclone has dealt a heavy blow to them.
The farmers had cultivated Puja, Sarala, Swarana Sub 1, 1018, Kalachampa, RGL and Varsha varieties of paddy. The crops were in flowering stage. It is estimated that paddy crop on around 50,000 hectare of land was damaged.
Khetra Mohan Behera, a farmer from Redhua village in Raghunathpur block, said the unwanted rainfall and storm has left the paddy farmers worried as it is not only going to affect production but also lead to deterioration in quality of the produce. The farmers in the district have demanded relaxation in procurement norms so that they can overcome their losses.
Meanwhile, Deputy Director, Agriculture Rabi Narayan Mohapatra said a team has been engaged to assess the damage to paddy crop across the district.