Rayagada/Bhubaneswar: Even as paddy procurement is in progress in several districts of Odisha, the unseasonal rain triggered by a low-pressure caused extensive damage to standing paddy and vegetable crops in large parts of the state.
Harvested paddy also got damaged due to unseasonal rain in districts like Angul, Balasore, Bhadrak, Boudh, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Deogarh, Gajapati, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kandhamal, Kendrapada, Keonjhar, Khurda, Koraput, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangpur, Nayagarh, Puri and Raygada, sources said.
A report from Rayagada said paddy and cotton crops reaped, soaked and kept in the open got damaged due to incessant rain over the last three days. In view of the situation, worried farmers sought steps by the government to relax the fixed criteria for purchase of crops to bring some relief.
Though the mandis were inaugurated on December 17, procurement of paddy could not be done for 3 to 4 days due to administrative laxity and, meanwhile rain wreaked havoc, said a from Kolnara.
According to sources, paddy was cultivated in around 49000 hectares in the district while cotton was grown on 49810 hectares. Farmers complain that the prices of paddy or cotton will decrease this year when crops have been destroyed due to this rain.
Rama Rao Kandagari, a cotton farmer of Rayagada, does not know whether he will be able to repay the loan of Rs 40,000 he had taken for cultivation this year. While the farmers kept their paddy on the fields, it was adversely destroyed in this rain, while the cotton pods were also damaged due to soaking.
The farmers have demanded that the government make crop damage assessment in the district and compensate them for their loss. A farmer from Siripai village from Kashipur said that many farmers did not have enough time to protect the paddy from the rain.
District Agriculture Officer Bishnu Prasad Kar said the agriculture officers of all the blocks had been instructed to start the assessment of farmers affected by rain, within a day or two and it will be reported to the government. After that, the decision will be taken according to the instructions of the government.
While the state government is yet to receive reports on crop situation from the districts, 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 state government has assured that compensation will be paid to farmers whose paddy got damaged at the mandis during the procurement process.
Meanwhile, the state government stated that around 15 lakh farmers from the districts hit by unseasonal rain have been enrolled under the crop insurance scheme. The farmers who have insured their Kharif crops under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (Kharif -2024) are required to report loss of their harvested crops for claiming insurance compensation. Farmers can upload the information on crop loss using “Krishi Rakshak” App within 72 hours of the crop loss or intimate through the help line No 14447, an official said.
Stating that post-harvest loss is covered under PMFBY – Crop Insurance Scheme, it said if the crop loss has occurred in cut & spread condition or in small bundled condition within 14 days of harvest. The insurance compensation will be paid to the farmers after joint survey of the affected fields by the officials of implementing Insurance Companies and Government officers. The compensation will be paid to insured farmers on the entire sum insured amount based on the loss.
