The floods in large swathes of Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Assam, Rajasthan and Gujarat have not only displaced people and washed away homes, but also caused extensive damage to the standing crops. According to initial estimates Kharif crops worth Rs 10,000-15,000 crore have been damaged in the recent floods in five States. It is estimated that three lakh hectares of kharif crops have been affected in the floods.
According to Agriculture Ministry data, Gujarat saw kharif sowing on 6.06 million hectares, which was 70 per cent of last year's 8.57 million hectares. Of these, major crops such as cotton and groundnut have seen sowing on 2.50 million hectares and 1.4 million hectares, respectively. However, the excess sowing this year might have been washed away by the heavy rain. As per ministry's data, cereals have been sown on 720,000 hectares, pulses 382,000 hectares, soybeans 106,300 hectares, guarseeds 83,000 hectares and castor 54,000 hectares. As per preliminary data, atleast one lakh hectares of sowing have been damaged, though a complete assessment would happen only once the water begins to recede. The kharif crops losses have occurred mainly in Saurashtra, Kutch and North Gujarat, including the cotton-growing areas of Rajkot, Surendranagar, Morbi, Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Kutch, Patan, Banaskantha and Sabarkantha in Gujarat.
Crops that are sown during the southwest monsoon season are called kharif or monsoon crops. These crops are sown at the beginning of the season around end May to early June and are harvested post the monsoon rains beginning October. Rice, maize, pulses such as urad, moong dal and millets are among the key kharif crops.
In Assam the floods have left behind a trail of destruction, which also includes massive silt deposit on over two lakh hectare crop area. According to a report by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), 560 villages faced floods in the state and over 35000 hectares of kharif crops have been affected. The main affected districts were lakhimpur, Biswanath, Barpeta, Dhubri, Goalpara, Morigaon, Nagaon, Karbi Anglong, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Karimganj and Cachar districts. While the Assam government is still accessing the loss of livestock, it said that 4,041,42 animals were affected due to flood so far. The state government has made a presentation before the Central Government and sought an interim assistance of Rs 2,939 crore to deal with destruction caused by floods.
Thousand hectares of Kharif crops are also damaged in floods in Arunachal Pradesh. About 500 hectares and 657 hectares of kharif crop-in Dhamnagar block of Bhadrak district Odisha are badly affected due to floods. The crops in Koraput and Jeypore district also affected in the flood. The exact amount of damaged crops is yet to be assessed by the state government. In Sikkim kharif crops in four districts are affected.
