KENDRAPARA: Incessant rains over the last five days due to a low pressure in the Bay of Bengal have damaged crops and led to a spike in prices of vegetables in the district.
Large tracts of agriculture land have been inundated due to the downpour causing considerable damage to vegetable crops like radish, lady finger, beans, brinjal, pointed gourd, etc.
The price of brinjal, which was Rs 20 per kg last week, has now gone up to Rs 30 per kg in Kendrapara town. Similarly, the price of pointed gourd has gone up to Rs 40 per kg from Rs 25 per kg last week. Mohammad Aziuddin, a vegetable seller said the prices of vegetables usually come down in the month of August.
But due to the rains, the crops were damaged leading to the price rise. Vegetables like pumpkin and lady finger have almost doubled in markets across the district.
The rains came as a double whammy for vegetable growers who in May had suffered huge losses due to cyclone Amphan. “The farmers, reeling under debt, are now staring at uncertainty.
"The torrential rain has pushed them to the edge," said Madan Behera, a veget able g rower of Garadapur. Farme r leade r Umesh Chandra Singh said large tracts of vegetable farms are in knee-deep water due to accumulation of stagnant water.
He said every year, farmers of the district suffer either due to heavy or less rains. Assistant director of Horticulture department Kanda Jena assured that assessment of the losses will be done soon and a report sent to the Government for compensating the farmers.