The cyclone Hudhud has dashed the hopes of farmers in Ganjam and Gajapati districts to reap a bumper kharif crop.
While standing paddy crops were hit in thousands of hectares of land in southern Odisha due to untimely cyclone-induced rains, other crops like vegetables, sugarcane, pulses, groundnut and cotton were also damaged.Ironically, after the last year’s crop loss due to the cyclone Phailin, the farmers had hoped for a good harvest this year, especially due to adequate monsoon rainfalls.
The crop loss this time is expected to force more farmers to migrate to other States to seek livelihood.The Hudhud has damaged paddy and non-paddy crops in about 20,000 hectares and 62,500 hectares of land, respectively, in Ganjam, according to Deputy Director of Agriculture Sudarshan Mohanty.
In Ganjam district, paddy and non-paddy areas are 2.23 hectares and 1.38 lakh hectares, respectively. The worst-affected blocks are Rangeilunda, Patrapur, Chhatrapur, Chikiti and Ganjam. The extent of damages to paddy crop would be known after crop-cutting, official sources said.
In Gajapati, damage to standing crop was estimated at paddy (27,973 hectares), cotton (13,486 hectares), pulses (11,458 hectares), vegetables (13,268 hectares) and corn (13,166 hectares), the sources said.However, farmer leaders claim that crop damages in the two districts are much more than the official assessment.“While farmers in Ganjam are yet to get compensation for the crop loss due to the Phailin, the loss due to Hudhud has further added to their plight,” said convenor of Chasi Suraksha Abhiyan Rabi Rath.
Stating that farmers in the district are not in a position to repay crop loans, another farmer leader, Brundaban Khatei, has urged the Government to waive the debts. The loss has been colossal and unprecedented in the State.