PUNE: The damage to kharif crops in Maharashtra after the recent floods has now doubled to 3 lakh hectare from the earlier estimate of 1.5 lakh hectare.
Paddy in all districts of Konkan has been affected, with the maximum damage in Kolhapur and Sangli districts, state agriculture department officials told TOI on Wednesday.
Another state agriculture department official told TOI that Kolhapur registered the maximum crop losses. Crops in Akola, Amravati, Buldhana, Washim, Nagpur, Chandrapur and Wardha in Vidarbha were also damaged.
“Maximum damage was reported to sugar cane crops in Kolhapur and Sangli, soybean in Vidarbha and paddy in Konkan, apart from all vegetables in fields. Farmers with fields in low-lying areas and those next to the riverside and nullahs especially incurred heavy damage as waterlogging and muck from flooding still persists.” he added.
Crops in Palghar, Ratnagiri, Raigad and Sindhudurg were mainly affected in the Konkan region, he said. Since the department still has a primary report of the losses, crop-wise damage is yet to be compiled, officials added.
Maharashtra’s total kharif area, barring sugar cane, is 141 lakh hectare. “Resowing will not be possible in case of some crops as soybean as the sowing time has already passed,” he said.
Uday Patil, chairman of a farmer’s producers company in Kolhapur, said, “Soybean is a sensitive crop among cash crops, and is affected by both, heavy rains and flooding. Farmers in Kolhapur have recorded 30-50% damage to soybean due to waterlogged fields. Flooding and rains weakened soybean roots and damaged the leaves of the crop. The biggest effect has been on cattle feed kept at river catchments and farms. Almost 535 farmers in our company have been affected due to losses of soybean and sugar cane crop.”
