Heavy rainfall and strong winds caused huge damage to crops and vegetable farms in Kashmir, leaving farmers in distress over expected losses.

The windy storms triggered by heavy rainfall have lead to massive damage of crops, on which farmers depend for their livelihood.

One of the farmers, Sadiksun on Tuesday expresses his disappointment and said they have been incurring heavy losses due to incessant rains which have damaged their standing crops.

"And the entire crops were damaged. What will we do now. We are facing much difficulty. We are poor people, we only survive on our crops. Now it's all gone," said he.

Earlier this month, inadequate rainfall and weak monsoon in many Indian provinces has affected the farming of paddy and left the farmers worried. Every year, by this time, the state witnesses good rainfall but many districts are still reeling under weak monsoon, making it difficult for the cultivation of many crops like Paddy.

However, the continuous downpours across the country have also raised threats of flood like situation endangering human lives and loss of property.

Meanwhile, another Farmer, Abdur Rehman urged the provincial government to extend their help to farmers who are have lost their produce due to unexpected and unseasonal rainfall.

"Government should come and look into this and provide us help. We will be very grateful," said Rehman.

Recently, hailstorm had also damaged paddy crop, vegetable fields and fruit orchards at Rafiabad, Laser, Saripara, Budden Tragpora and Rohama in Baramulla district of the province.

The hailstorm also affected fruits in most parts of Kashmir. Farmers have appealed the authorities to compensate the loss.

Half of India's farmland lacks access to irrigation, making many farmers particularly dependent on monsoon rains. The nation plans to expand irrigation coverage by at least a tenth by 2017 to cut its dependence on the seasonal rains.

Source - http://www.business-standard.com/