Rains Damage Paddy Crop, AP Farmers Seek Govt Intervention
The farmers who harvested the crop say they don’t have any drying facility.
Kakinada:Incessant rains for the two days in erstwhile East and West Godavari districts have damaged the paddy crop. Farmers who have already harvested the crop are also affected as they lack the driers.
Several farmers have postponed the harvest following predictions of an impending cyclone.
The farmers who harvested the crop say they don’t have any drying facility. They used to dry the paddy on the roads and vacant places. But, due to the rains, this is not possible. If the paddy is lying in the fields, it would get soaked in the rain and become unfit for sale.
The high wages are also a constraint in taking the paddy to the upland areas from the fields.
Y Lovababu of Pedapudi mandal in Kakinada district said he has harvested the crop, but due to the rains, it was shifted to a vacant place and covered with bags. He faced difficulties due to lack of tarpaulins to cover the paddy. He urged the government to direct the rice millers to take the paddy stocks. The rice millers have driers, he noted.
“Otherwise, we would incur heavy losses,” he said.
Another farmer said that he has postponed the harvest, but the rain water entered the fields. He is afraid of inundation of the crop if the rains continue for two more days. “If we take the crop to the millers, they reduce the weight of the bags -- 4 bags out of every 100 bags. We hope the government will come to our help,” he said.
Agriculture officials claimed there was no problem with these rains. “After the rains, the farmers can harvest their crops. This may take only three to four days,” they said.
West Godavari district joint collector Rahul Reddy asked civil supplies officials, MROs and RDOs to ensure that farmers do not face any trouble in the next four to five days due to weather changes.
He asked the officials to supply tarpaulins and said the MLOs should also re-take the tarpaulins from farmers after their work was completed.
Officials, he said, should measure the moisture content and it should be written on the truck sheet. Farmers can take tarpaulins from the cooperative societies and Rythu Seva Kendras and save their harvested paddy.
