Untimely rain damages crop worth crores

Untimely rains in the state have damaged crops — both standing and harvested — in Krishna and Guntur districts.

The rain coupled with high speed gales destroyed mango fruits in several acres in Krishna district. Farmers and local traders, who had pinned high hopes on the fruit this year, are now busy collecting the dropped fruits and shifting the same to the market in Vijayawada. The market has over 400 tonne mango ready for export.

Commercial crops like turmeric, chillies, maize and groundnut were also damaged in the rain. The rabi paddy crop, which is at the harvesting stage, also suffered damages.

According to the agriculture department, mango farms suffered losses to the tune of Rs 100 crore, while it is Rs 60 crore for paddy, Rs 28 crore for maize and Rs 20 crore for chillies.

The turmeric, which was boiled and was getting cured in the fields, was damaged in Nandigama and Nuzvid areas of Krishna district, and Tenali and Guntur areas of Guntur district.

Officials of the agriculture department said as much as 200,000 quintals of chillies were lying in the fields. Similarly, paddy was in 13,000 acres, maize in 20,000 acres and turmeric in 2,000 acres. The officials estimate that Rs 300 crore worth of crop has been damaged in Guntur district.

“We have kept the turmeric for curing after it was boiled. It would have been ready for shifting to the market yard in the next couple of days. But, the rain had shattered our dreams. The turmeric would get discoloured and the price would go down. We may not even get our investment,” said Nekkalapu Murali, a turmeric farmer from Krishna district.