Unseasonal Rain & Hailstorm Damage Crops As Farmers Left Distressed In Odisha’s Jajpur

Jajpur: The unseasonal heavy rain due to low pressure in the Bay of Bengal that lashed Odisha has severely damaged the vegetable farming and paddy at Bari and Tandra village under the Korai block here.

The unseasonal shower has caused damage to standing crops in a further setback to farmers bracing for a busy agricultural season amid the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. Farmers are already perturbed by the reduced availability of farm labour and difficulty in transporting their agricultural produce to different parts of Odisha.

According to a report from Jajpur, standing vegetable cultivation including papaya, Banana and paddy cultivation in hectares of agricultural land has been affected by the heavy rain.

Farmer Biswanath Rout said, “I had sown paddy crops in four acres of land and it was our last hope for the survival of my family including 10 members. Heavy rain destroyed our paddy crops. I don’t have any idea about what step will be taken next.”

Additional Collector of Kalinganagar, Santosh Kumar Mishra said, “The heavy rain caused huge damage to the crop as it inundated in the water for days. Our tehsildars are also on duty here in a camp since eight days. We will provide compensation after the actual assessment done by the agricultural department.”