With major reservoirs including the Somasila, Kandaleru and Rallapadu brimming with water thanks to floods in several spells following bountiful rains in the catchment areas, farmers in South Coastal Andhra Pradesh began cultivation of crops with big hopes both in irrigated and rain-fed areas.
Now, the hopes of over 1.85 lakh farmers in the region, including 1.48 lakh growers in Prakasam district, are shattered as the severe cyclonic storm Nivar in no time flattened their crops in over 1.27 lakh hectares in SPSR Nellore and Prakasam districts, according to sources in the Agriculture Department.
Paddy growers are ruing their fate as the weather system inundated standing crops in over 28,000 hectares in the two districts (17,648 ha. in Nellore district), while those who took up cultivation of black gram in about 31,000 hectares, including 17,500 in Prakasam district, do not expect to get any yield now. Enumeration is still going on.
Replantation dilemma
Tobacco growers in the traditional tobacco growing areas in the two districts lost tender plants in over 11,500 ha. and are now dilly-dallying on whether to go for gap filling/ replantation. "Late plantation can adversely affect the grade out-turn and may fail to attract buyers at the time of marketing," feels a farmer leader from Ongole V.V. Prasad.
Farmers grew chilli in over 10,000 ha in Prakasam district with the price of the export-oriented spice crop going northwards. "'Now we are in an unenviable position having lost our crops to heavy rain and Gemini virus," laments a farmer R. Venkata Subbaiah from Pamidipadu village.
The weather system did not spare aquaculturists either as fish/prawn ponds in about 1,000 ha were washed away. Damage to the irrigation and drinking water tanks and power installations has been put at ₹65 crore.
‘Paltry subsidy’
Upset with a paltry input subsidy recommended by agriculture officials for crop loss at the rate of ₹10,000 per acre for black gram, red gram and tobacco and ₹15,000 per acre for paddy, Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham State general secretary K.V.V. Prasad puts the crop loss at over ₹650 crore and demands a liberal financial assistance for the affected farmers, including those who had not registered their names under e-crop booking system. Each of the farmers have spent on an average over ₹50,000 per acre and those who grew chilli had spent up to ₹1.25 lakh per acre, he explains.
There could be no reason for delaying settlement of crop insurance claims of the farmers who had lost their kharif crop, feels All India Kisan Sangarsh Coordination Committee Prakasam district convenor Ch. Ranga Rao. Input subsidy should be given to the affected farmers without loss of time to help them grow alternative crops during the ongoing rabi season to recoup at least a part of the losses, he adds.
