Paddy farmers worried as cyclone devastates crops in Krishna

While Cyclone Montha did not cause much rainfall in Krishna district, it did, however, cause strong winds that left agricultural crops damaged on 46,359 hectares in the district, most of which is paddy.

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), the wind speed on Tuesday touched 65 kmph in Machilipatnam. The strong winds uprooted 446 electric poles, damaged 30 transformers and uprooted 506 trees in the district, according to preliminary report from the Krishna district administration. One person, K. Subba Rao, died after a tree fell on him in Kruthivennu.

According to preliminary crop damage report, standing paddy crops on 45,040 hectares, blackgram on 985 hectares, groundnut on 288.2 hectares and cotton on all 43 hectares have been damaged, and 56,040 farmers have been affected. A full enumeration will be done later.

P. Rama Rao, Maganti Nagaraju and Suresh are among the farmers whose paddy crops suffered damage due to the cyclone. Rama Rao, who has 15 acres of paddy near National Highway 65 in Guduru mandal, invested ₹45,000 per acre of the crop. He now worries that the expenditure will only increase. Pointing to the wilted crops, he says: “Harvesting one acre of paddy crop usually takes an hour-and-a-half using a machine. Now, it will take the same machine more than five hours,” he says.

The farmer pays ₹3,000 or more for one hour of using the machine, since the job cannot be done by a person.

The cyclone came at a time when the crop was two weeks away from harvest. “Now we will wait for ten days before harvesting the crop. In the meantime, if it rains again, the damage and expenses will only increase,” says Nagaraju, while assessing the extent of damage for his crop. Around 70% of it is damaged, he concludes. 

Out of ₹45,000 expenditure per acre, the farmers here say they may recover only ₹10,000-₹15,000. The rice millers will take their produce at a lesser price and sell it to the government at a higher price, they say. “We will not benefit in any way.”

In Pamarru mandal, farmers were seen lamenting over the fallen banana and papaya trees. The fruits had fallen to the ground due to the winds.

District Agricultrual Officer Padmavathi said the State government will provide input subsidy to those farmers who have suffered 33% loss of their yield. “If it does not rain in the next five days, there is a possibility of saving some of the wilted crops in the district. If it does rain, the damage will be more,” she says.