BHUBANESWAR: Even as paddy procurement is underway in many districts, the low-pressure induced incessant rains have caused widespread damage to standing paddy and vegetable crops in large parts of the state.
Maximum rain-related loss is apprehended from coastal pockets where vast stretches of farmlands with harvest-ready paddy crops are waterlogged.
While reports on crop situation from the districts are still awaited, principal secretary of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment department Arabinda Padhee took stock of the situation on Saturday and asked district officials of the department to send in their report by Sunday, official sources said.
The meeting was informed that rainfall warning was issued to Ganjam, Gajapati, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur with an advisory to farmers on measures to be undertaken to protect the crops and their harvest.
Khurda district which received the maximum rainfall of 75 mm in the last 24 hours reported maximum crop damage followed by Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Puri and Cuttack districts. The unseasonal rains also damaged vegetable crops particularly cauliflower and recently planted potato seeds. However, the showers will help groundnut crops the most, sources in the department said.
Meanwhile, the state government has assured that compensation will be paid to farmers whose paddy got damaged at the mandis during the procurement process. Cooperation minister Pradeep Bal Samanta told mediapersons that arrangement has been made for covering the crop at mandis. Possibility of paddy getting wet is minimal, he said assuring that paddy will be procured after the stock dries up once the rain subsides.
“Damage to paddy will be more where crop has been harvested but not shifted from the field to safer places. Similar will be the fate of the crop where lodging occurs due to wind, making harvest difficult,” principal nodal officer of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology Tusar Mohanty told this paper. He feared that pulses seeds sown recently may fail to germinate if rain water is not cleared immediately.